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 always felt, if I can get to a library, I'll be OK.

My doctor told me that I really should lose some weight. "You're mildly obese," he said. And I thought, "Well, who couldn't afford to lose 20 or 30 pounds?" He said, "Well, a person in your category." I said, "What is that category, doctor?" He said, "Well, you're what I call upwardly middle aged." And I said, "I forgive you for everything."

I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself.

I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough courage to display it.

It is this belief in a power larger than myself and other than myself which allows me to venture into the unknown and even the unknowable.

The truth is, no one of us can be free until everybody is free.