“The only urgent thing in life is the pursuit of love. You get that one right, and you’ve solved the mystery.”

Don’t worry about bad things that haven’t happened yet. It will save you a lot of anxiety.

Looking back, now, I realize that you only ever need one person who lights up that way when you enter a room.

Furthermore, the writer is not there to see the reaction of the person he writes to, so there’s a great unknown to the process that requires a leap of faith.

I have been a joy to live with all spring: Upbeat, warm and tender, uncomplicated, and loving.

It’s service. And I took that ethic and applied it to my writing craft.

And who encouraged you to grow a good heart. When that layer goes, whatever is left of your childhood goes with her.

Sometimes we get our hearts broken, only to have the right person come along to mend them.

It doesn’t. What matters is what you make. Whether it’s a cake for bingo night or a costume for a saint or a wall of water-whatever you pour into this life is what makes you rich.

If there is one thing I hope my books do always and forever, its that they honor working people.

Same is true of liking a boy. If you cut off the thoughts, if you stop pinning, you’re free to find a boy who is attainable.

I even love the smell of books.

This should tell you everything you need to know about guys.

But I learned that art can be found in all of life, even in pain.

So for them 15 years is a blink of an eye. I am nothing but grateful.

I have candles going, and small objects that remind me of what I am working on, or bring me into the world of the character.

When I see it lumbering down the mountain road like a tank . . . I flag it down like an old friend. I’ve waited on this corner every Friday since I can remember.

There’s this really awesome theory of human motivation – that human beings all want three things. One is to be competent, one is to belong, and one is be free, as in to have choice: to not be told what to do but to choose what to do.

One of the funny things about the stock market is that every time one person buys, another sells, and both think they are astute.

Really true intimacy is rare and it depends on other things besides sex.

I have learned since that sometimes the things we want most are impossible for us. You may long to come home, yet wander forever.

I think the greatest thing in the world is to believe in people.

Most teachers, when surveyed, say that it is part of their job to help students develop things like grit. This is especially true at the elementary and middle school levels. They feel it’s part of their vocation to teach other things that are not formally academic content.

I wanted to change the world. But I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself.

Becoming a mom forced me to re-prioritize and make room for the things that are most important, while recognizing that there are things I can let go of, and the world won’t crumble around me.