“Humility is an essential quality in writers who want to write well.”

“I was starting to feel that Washington was a city run by two rival gangs that had a great deal in common with each other, including an essential lack of interest in the well-being of the turf on which they fought.”

“The only way to learn to write is to write.”

“Novak was saying that the pope’s message was in part: You are not nothing; you are a great deal. God made you in his image, and he calls you to be like him. And so you must walk forward in to the world each day with confidence and humility. This reminded me of what a woman in Bible study said once. “Walk with pride, for you are the daughter of a king.”

“Maybe I wanted children, maybe I didn't, but I wanted the decision to be a choice, not a mandate. Last time I checked, childlessness was only supposed to be a condition of career advancement for nuns.”

“Matt found that endearing. And disturbing in ways he didn't want to acknowledge.”

“How could I ever forget my best friend, the man, who had changed my destiny simply by allowing me to write about him?”