“Why do we write?"To make suffering endurableTo make evil intelligibleTo make justice desirableand . . . to make love possible”

“Children love to be alone because alone is where they know themselves and where they dream.”

“Do not keep company with people who speak of careers. Not only are such people uninteresting in themselves; they also have no interest in anything interesting. . . . Keep company with people who are interested in the world outside themselves. The one who never asks you what you are working on; who never inquires as to the success of your latest project; who never uses the word career as a noun -- he is your friend.”

“A library should be like a pair of open arms.”

“There may be no more pleasing picture in the world than that of a child peering into a book - the past and the future entrancing each other.”

“I'm going to kill Fairy Tale Dora and my little dog too.”

“I believe that if, at the end of it all, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try.”