When I look back, I am so impressed again with the life-giving power of literature.

Continue. Be loving and be strong. Be fierce and be kind. And don't give in and don't give up.'

Everyone grows old but not everyone grows up.

Let the brain go to work, let it meet the heart and you will be able to forgive.

We write for the same reason that we walk, talk, climb mountains or swim the oceans - because we can. We have some impulse within us that makes us want to explain ourselves to other human beings.

We can be better, we can be wiser, we can be more kind. Yes we have to change. We have to grow up and stop acting like 10 years old. Yes there is much to do, much to see, much to go into.

Modesty is a learned affectation. And as soon as life slams the modest person against the wall, that modesty drops.