“Indeed, insight is the true hallmark of empathy. The power of true empathy is its ability to give us a fresh understanding of the other person's emotions and thoughts to illuminate an aspect of their experience that would not have been apparent to us had we not stepped into their shoes.”

“Empathy is the capacity to think and feel oneself into the inner life of another person. It has both emotional and cognitive aspects, involving the ability to tune into the emotions experienced by another.”

“Reading fiction not only develops our imagination and creativity, it gives us the skills to be alone. It gives us the ability to feel empathy for people we've never met, living lives we couldn't possibly experience for ourselves, because the book puts us inside the character's skin.”

“It's the discomforting end of humankind's bargain with consciousness. We empathize with other beings and imagine we feel their pain. Either the empathy binds us to the mechanics of live, or we shut the empathy off. ”

“Do not write to impress others. Authors who write to impress people have difficulty remaining true to themselves. A better path is to write what pleases you and pray that there are others like you. Your first and most important reader is you. If you write a book that pleases you, at least you know one person will like it.”

“Do birds arise from ashes?Will 5 years bring the dawn?Or will night neverendingSubdue the rooster's song?”

“Perfection is overrated, boring. It's the imperfections--the vulnerabilities, the weaknesses, the human elements--that make us who we are, that make us real, beautiful . . . necessary.”