“If you are a real writer, then just surrender to the writer's life, all of it, even the bad stuff. When you do that, the beauty appears: the peace, the meaning, the joy, the fulfillment, the sense that you are doing what you were born to do and what could be better, in the end, than that?”

“If you had a friend you knew you’d never see again, what would you say? If you could do one last thing for someone you love, what would it be? Say it, do it, don’t wait. Nothing lasts forever.”

“Experiencing life makes you a better writer, and writing enhances your experience of life.”

“You could try making sense out of the universe, but you were too small and the parts you needed to see were too large or even smaller.”

“There never was another like you in this world. God throws the mold away every time he makes a man [or woman]... I think He made you what you are in order that you might do some particular thing better than anyone else in the world could do it.”

“What’s hard is not having that hope. I can’t imagine going through bad times without that peace. Without that surrender, life just eats you up. Spits you out. Wears you down to nothing.”

“I just wanted you to be safe," my mother says. "Do you understand that? Safe, and happy. Anything I could do... even if it meant I couldn't be with you...”