“Fairy tales have always got to have something a bit scary for children – as long as you make them laugh as well.”

Pain was something we were expected to endure. But I doubt very much if you would be entirely happy today if a doctor threw a towel in your face and jumped on you with a knife.

A writer of fiction lives in fear. Each new day demands new ideas and he can never be sure whether he is going to come up with them or not.

I’m wondering what to read next.

I began to realize how important it was to be an enthusiast in life.

Good writing is essentially rewriting.

All the reading she had done had given her a view of life that they had never seen.

Perhaps it’s chasing me. But I don’t think it will ever catch me because I am moving fast.

The greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.

The greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.

The life of a writer is absolute hell compared to the life of a businessman.

If you are good life is good.

If you are good life is good.

The walls were wet and sticky, and peach juice was dripping from the ceiling. James opened his mouth and caught some of it on his tongue. It tasted delicious.

A life is made up of a great number of small incidents, and a small number of great ones.

Obscurity is never a virtue.

I think probably kindness is my number one attribute in a human being. I’ll put it before any of the things like courage or bravery or generosity or anything else.

This is one thing they forget to mention in most child-rearing books, that at times you will just lose your mind. Period.

We learn our belief systems as very little children, and then we move through life creating experiences to match our beliefs. Look back in your own life and notice how often you have gone through the same experience.

Nothing heals us like letting people know our scariest parts: When people listen to you cry and lament, and look at you with love, it’s like they are holding the baby of you.

To terrify children with the image of hell, to consider women an inferior creation – is that good for the world?

My parents elected me president of the family when I was 4. We actually had an election every year and I always won. I’m an only child, and I could count on my mother’s vote.

Only the guilty are guilty: the children of killers are not killers, but children.

Greatness occurs when your children love you, when your critics respect you and when you have peace of mind.

It’s better to have died a small child than to be a politician who gets caught in a scandal during a slow news month.