I wanted to show what it's really like for 98 percent of the world's population [in the third world]. Plus, I also see there are an awful lot of young people out there doing good things, and I wanted to give them a platform.

When you're up against a superior enemy, sometimes it's okay to just bow out gracefully

When my grandmother was alive, she used to tell me that every time God creates a soul in heaven, he creates another to become its special mate. And that once we're born, we begin our search for our soul mate, the one person who's the perfect fit for our mind and body. They lucky oens find each other.

Pain and suffering are the soil of strength and courage.

You know not every book has to have a happy ending, but it has to have a satisfying ending.

So this is always the key: you have to write the book you love, the book that's alive in your heart. That's the one you have to write.

I have known some magnificent young people who died very young but had wonderful lives and inspired many people by their short existence.