“I feel so lucky at being able to do what I love. Writing has proved to be a fascinating journey – without maps and compass at times – but it is one where I am continually learning.”

“I dropped my head into my arms. I could hear the sea vibrating, the tiny hiss of displaced sand and the click of stones. If I lay still and quiet enough, I thought, I could melt into this elemental world of sun, water and wide, open horizon.”

“I get into a tearing passion about something I know very little about, and when I learn more my passion ebbs away.”

“I remember reading a fascinating article in the New York Times Magazine once where this guy said... Every woman has the exact love life she wants”

“I do forget sometimes how much it means for certain men—for certain people—to be able to provide their loved ones with material comforts and protection at all times. I forget how dangerously reduced some men can feel when that basic ability has been stripped from them. I forget how much that matters to men, what it represents.”

“I call upon you to draw from the depths of your being — to prove that we are a human race, to prove that our love outweighs our need to hate, that our compassion is more compelling than our need to blame”

“I am an ordinary sort of fellow, not braver than other people, but I hate to see a good man downed, and that long knife would not be the end of Scudder if I could play the game in his place.”