It did not look like the work of God, but it might have represented the handicraft of a God with a joyous sense of humor, a dancing God who loved mischief as much as prayer, and playfulness as much as mischief.

I think I learned about the relationship between books and life from Margaret Mitchell.

But no one walks out of his family without reprisals: a family is too disciplined an army to offer compassion to its deserters.

Happiness is an accident of nature, a beautiful and flawless aberration.

Know this. I think you could be special if you only thought there was anything special about yourself.

Comely was the town by the curving river that they dismantled in a year's time. Beautiful was Colleton in her last spring as she flung azaleas like a girl throwing rice at a desperate wedding. In dazzling profusion, Colleton ripened in a gauze of sweet gardens and the town ached beneath a canopy of promissory fragrance.

In families, there are no crimes beyond forgiveness.