“ We like to think about how smart we are. But I think talent as a writer is hard-wired in, it's all there, at least the basic elements of it. You can't change it any more than you can choose whether to be right handed or left handed. ”

“ I've always believed in God. I also think that's the sort of thing that either comes as part of the equipment, the capacity to believe, or at some point in your life, when you're in a position where you actually need help from a power greater than yourself, you simply make an agreement. ”

“ Every book you pick up has its own lesson or lessons, and quite often the bad books have more to teach than the good ones. ”

“ I was in enough to get along with people. I was never socially inarticulate. Not a loner. And that saved my life, saved my sanity. That and the writing. But to this day I distrust anybody who thought school was a good time. Anybody. ”

“ When his life was ruined, his family killed, his farm destroyed, Job knelt down on the ground and yelled up to the heavens, 'Why god? Why me?' and the thundering voice of God answered, 'There's just something about you that pisses me off.' ”

“ Americans are apocalyptic by nature. The reason why is that we've always had so much, so we live in deadly fear that people are going to take it away from us. ”

“ I watched Titanic when I got back home from the hospital, and cried. I knew that my IQ had been damaged. ”

“ You cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you. ”

“ French is the language that turns dirt into romance. ”

“ Fiction is the truth inside the lie. ”