What is a teacher? It isn't someone who teaches something, but someone who inspires the student to give of her best in order to discover what she already knows.

I am a Catholic, not so committed to the church, but to the idea of the Virgin, the female face of God.

You're always learning. The problem is, sometimes you stop and think you understand the world. This is not correct. The world is always moving. You never reach the point you can stop making an effort.

It took me 40 years to write my first book. When I was a child, I was encouraged to go to school. I was not encouraged to follow the career of a writer because my parents thought that I was going to starve to death.