If I am at a party, I want to be at the party. Too many photographers use the camera to avoid participating in things. They become professional observers.

One must ease the public into it - that's an art in itself.

Sell the public flowers... things that they can hang on their walls without being uptight.

I am selfish, but that's an attribute that all artists possess.

I was 17 when I was forced into marriage. I had no hand in it, and I didn't even enjoy being with the man. Also, I wanted to study, but no one listened to me. I wanted to move forward in life, it wasn't a happy situation. Because of some family problems, I had to stick around.

In Bonn, where I studied for a year, I changed from classical to Romance philology, taught there by its great founder, F. Diez, and at the beginning of 1852, I received the doctorate for a dissertation on the refrain in Provencal poetry.

The one test I have for every completed book is if I feel head over heels in love with the hero. If he hasn't stolen my heart from the previous hero, I know the book isn't right.

My mother's been married many, many times and grew up believing in love like that. It's remarkable.