He thrived with passion and compassion, humor and style. We had him whether we know who he was or did not know, he was ours and we were his.

What you're supposed to do when you don't like a thing is change it. If you can't change it, change the way you think about it. Don't complain.

The autobiographer looks at life through the lens of his or her own life and really uses herself or himself as the jumping-off place to examine the social mores and the economic and political climates. In a way, the autobiography becomes history as well as the story of one person, for it becomes the story of a family or the story of the state or nation.

I have great respect for the past. If you don't know where you've come from, you don't know where you're going. I have respect for the past, but I'm a person of the moment. I'm here, and I do my best to be completely centered at the place I'm at, then I go forward to the next place.

I don't trust any revolution where love is not allowed.

Love recognizes no barriers.

I make writing as much a part of my life as I do eating or listening to music.