The brain is a muscle that can move the world.

Man may have been made in the image of God, but human society was made in the image of His opposite number, and is always trying to get back home.

I think the best stories always end up being about the people rather than the event, which is to say character-driven.

Kids know they can't make it alone, yet at the same time, built into each one of us, is a survival ethic. It says, "Nobody cares and you have to look out for yourself and if you don't, you'll die." These two things work against each other. I think most kids are very frightened of their parents, and that's what all fairy tales reflect: Parents will fail you and you'll be left on your own. But, of course, everything comes out right in the end and the parents take you back.

We sometimes need to create unreal monsters and bogies to stand in for all the things we fear in our real lives.

I am the literary equivalent of a Big Mac and fries.

You're dead, George. You just don't have the sense to lie down.