“I work eight hours a day, but I’m not writing all that time. I’m thinking, editing, looking something up. Thinking is what I do a lot of.”

Elizabeth studied the blurry tabloid photo, which showed her cousin Mary Stuart leaving a Paris disco at dawn, drunkenly clinging to the arm of a French tennis pro. The message was very clear. Put passion first and you end up neither loved nor respected.

My dear girl, you must cultivate a taste for the finer things. Civilized pleasures give meaning to life.

Priceless things matter not for their value, but because they offer us an enduring reminder of stability and permanence.

Even the most powerful woman needs a place to unwind.

When you are a strong woman, you will attract trouble. When a man feels threatened, there is always trouble.

The past was always there, lived inside of you, and it helped to make you who you were. But it had to be placed in perspective. The past could not dominate the future.

In my opinion, moderation is a vastly overrated virtue, particularly when applied to work

I will never stop writing. People often ask when I will retire, but I say it’s none of their business. Writing defines who I am. I love the feeling of holding a finished book in my hands, and then I can’t wait to start the great adventure of writing the next one.

Elizabeth lay face-down on the massage table, and allowed Marco to relieve the stress of the business day with firm and knowing fingers. Success, she decided, was often a matter of knowing when to relax.

He who ascends to mountaintops, shall find The loftiest peaks most wrapt in clouds and snow; He who surpasses or subdues mankind Must look down on the hate of those below

The value of life lies not in the length of days, but in the use we make to them; a man may live long, yet get little from life. Whether you find satisfaction in life depends not on your tale of years, but on your will – Montaigne, Essays

She put her hand in his, and he clasped it firmly, knowing he had been waiting for her all his life.

A person with taste is merely one who can recognize the greatest beauty in the simplest things.

Always present yourself as a woman who expects to succeed.

Life was life. It happened. You never knew what was going to come at you. Or how you could defend yourself.

At the age of fifty-six Eleanor Stoddard was still a beautiful woman. She owned three hotels in France and another two in England. From nothing at all, she had built an empire. Eleanor had it all. Her one weakness was the young man sleeping beside her.

Baseball should be the only thing on an eight year old boy’s mind.

For me, being onstage for an hour and a half, my confidence was really huge for me. Doing eight shows a week for a run.

Let’s not forget: This all began when you had eight- and nine-year-old children writing graffiti on walls.

You ever spent eight hours acting in water?

My dad, my step-mom, and I were at the Japan pavilion of Epcot, and my dad was going to get me an origami book.

I can remember being eight years old and having infinite possibilities. But life ends up being so much less that we thought it would be when we were kids, with relationships that are so empty and stupid and brutal.

I have loved eight women in my life. I remember every woman’s face.

I like ’50s and ’60s American art. I have 85 or 90 Warhols.