The writer has to take the most used, most familiar objects - nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs - ball them together and make them bounce, turn them a certain way and make people get into a romantic mood; and another way, into a bellicose mood. I'm most happy to be a writer.

I speak a number of languages, but none are more beautiful to me than English.

A friend may be waiting behind a stranger's face.

I wasn't a pretty girl. I was six feet tall at 15, you know.

The truth brings the past into the present and prepares us for the future. That's what truth does

I encourage courtesy. To accept nothing less than courtesy, and to give nothing less than courtesy.

I think the more we know the better we are. I mean not just facts. The more we know about each other, the closer we are to learn something about our selves.