American Quotes

The combination of domesticity and wildness - that's a deep expression.

People say you can't teach writing, but I think that's nonsense.

Paul Farmer has helped to build amazing health care system in one of the poorest areas of Haiti. He founded Partners in Health, which serves the destitute and the sick in many parts of the world from Haiti to Boston and from Russia to Peru.

In a very basic way, a prominent landmark such as Mt. Holyoke tells you where you are. They let you know that you're not the first person in a place.

If you live in the same small place long enough, something you don't like is bound to happen.

If you had an essentially happy childhood, that tends to dwell with you.

I wrote a novel about the combat experiences I didn't have in Vietnam.

I want my prose to be as clear as a pane of glass.

I usually write about ordinary people and ordinary things, but Paul Farmer is the least ordinary person I've ever met... He's the leader of a small group of people who hope to cure a sick world, and I hope my book can help in some small way.

I think if the writing comes too easily, it shows - it's usually hard to read.

I tell beginning readers to read a lot and write a lot. If you want to write a book, find a subject that's really worth the time and effort you'll put in.

I never planned on doing a book about Paul Farmer or his organization. I met him in Haiti when I was on a magazine assignment. It's almost like his story sort of fell in my lap.

I know that to write you have to have stories you want to tell. You have to keep your mind alive, and you have to work hard.

I do believe that enduring geological features are important, though I don't think I can be clear about exactly why.

I always want to write something better than the last book.

Continuity is one of the things I like about New England.

Being a professional writer is not an easy way to make a living.

At first, I spend about four hours a day writing. Toward the end of a book, I spend up to 16 hours a day on it, because all I want to do is make it good and get it done.

You do the right thing even if it makes you feel bad. The purpose of life is not to be happy but to be worthy of happiness.

I'm an old cynic.

I'm a very good screamer, that's for sure.

I'm a grandmother with dogs and nice friends here in the Rocky mountains. Ever see the movie A River Runs Through It? That's where I live. It's beautiful, no two ways about it.

I'd had episodes before, but I swept them under the carpet. This time, I couldn't do that because everyone knew. I got on with the hard work of getting better and haven't had a blip in almost 10 years.

I went to work and did a lot of homework about what was wrong with me.

I was very active in the peace movement, still am.

I was in two episodes playing Christopher Reeve's character's emissary. They wanted to have my character announce Dr Swan's death, which I thought was exploitative.

I was briefly bitter.

I think the little girl in Smallville is terrific, but I only watched it once.

I remember laughing an inordinate amount of time. Setting up scenes that involve ooze coming out basements, or pigs' heads flying through windows is really fun. How could you not laugh?

I love horror movies because they're really fun. They tap into those wonderful primal emotions.