“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”

“You may write me down in history with your bitter, twisted lies, you may trod me in the very dirt but still, like dust, I'll rise.”

“When I'm writing, I am trying to find out who I am, who we are, what we're capable of, how we feel, how we lose and stand up, and go on from darkness into darkness.”

“Children's talent to endure stems from their ignorance of alternatives.”

“There is nothing so pitiful as a young cynic because he has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing.”

“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.”

“Books are the mirrors of the soul.”

“Fiction is like a spider's web, attached ever so lightly perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners.”

“A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.”

“You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.”

“Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood.”

“Artists are here to disturb the peace.”