That is what you have to do before you kill, I thought. You have to create an it, where none was before.

It's probably a form of childish curiosity that keeps me going as a fiction writer. I ... want to open everybody's bureau drawers and see what they keep in there. I'm nosy.

Ignoring isn’t the same as ignorance, you have to work at it.

There's always something to occupy the inquiring mind.

Children were vehicles for passing things along. These things could be kingdoms, rich wedding gifts, stories, grudges, blood feuds. Through children, alliances were forged; through children, wrongs were avenged. To have a child was to set loose a force in the world.

The best way of keeping a secret is to pretend there isn't one.

Vanity is becoming a nuisance, I can see why women give it up, eventually. But I'm not ready for that yet.