“I think music is what language once aspired to be. Music allows us to face God on our own terms because it reaches beyond life.”

“Succes is really nothing more than the record of failure. To be successful means you must be willing to fail more than anyone else.”

“If you travel too often, you actually come face-to-face with what you're trying to escape. I feel like when I travel alone, sometimes it's like being locked in a hotel room with my own worst enemy.”

“The joy of style lies not in how we look to other people, but in how we look to ourselves - and the most memorable and beautiful outfits are simply those that, in some rare moment of joy, we found the courage to share with the world.”

“Libraries are the ultimate restaurants for brain food. I sleep better knowing there are libraries. I would take a bullet for a librarian.”

“In world mythology, there are countless examples of tragic characters whose greatest strength is also the source of their undoing. But the ancient Greeks and Romans also held the view that acceptance is the beginning of wisdom.”

“Grief is a room without doors - but somehow, with its tinsel and cliches, Christmas finds a way in.”

“Single parenting is sometimes just a case of sitting around by yourself in mild despair, not knowing what to do.”

“In his heart, some tiny piece of what hadn't happened would lodge.”

“It is the afternoon of my birthday, but still the morning of my life.”

“[I] read books because I love them, not because I think I should read them.”