I often went to bed without supper cause I hated my mother's cooking. So, to go to bed without supper was not a torture to me. If she was gonna hurt me, she'd make me eat.

The day after Paul Newman was dead, he was twice as dead.

There must be more to life than having everything.

You know who my gods are, who I believe in fervently? Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson - she's probably the top - Mozart, Shakespeare, Keats. These are wonderful gods who have gotten me through the narrow straits of life.

I did not know how to paint a mural. I did not know how to prepare the surface. There was nobody from the Renaissance around who could advise me, and I did the best I could.

I never set out to write books for children. I don't have a feeling that I'm gonna save children or my life is devoted.

I had a brother who was my savior, made my childhood bearable.