To-Do lists help us break life into small steps.

The most difficult part of writing a book is not devising a plot which will captivate the reader. It's not developing characters the reader will have strong feelings for or against. It is not finding a setting which will take the reader to a place he or she as never been. It is not the research, whether in fiction or non-fiction. The most difficult task facing a writer is to find the voice in which to tell the story.

Call home at least once a week. It's a proven fact that we call home less the older we get. And that's wrong. It should be the other way around. As we get older, our parents get older.

When you're screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they've given up on you.

I'll take an earnest person over a hip person every day, because hip is short-term, earnest is long term.

When we're connected to others, we become better people.

There's a lot of talk these days about giving children self-esteem. It's not something you can give; it's something they have to build.