At home, growing up, we weren't really poor. We had everything we needed, we just didn't have what we wanted.

It seems very safe to me to be surrounded by green growing things and water.

I can count all the ways in which being a mother has enriched my understanding of the world, of character, my sense of the future and my attachment to it. I can't imagine what kind of writer I'd be if I didn't have my kids.

There's always a part of your nation's history that you haven't been told that... has a powerful impact on how you yourself may behave and may believe.

Prenatal education can only be an unconscious result of what the parents, particularly the mother, do. If, until the child is born, the mother acts in such a way that she expresses what is morally and intellectually correct, then what she accomplishes in her own continuing education will transfer to the child.

The TV is often on in our house, but I really only keep up with three shows: 'American Idol,' 'Modern Family' and 'The Walking Dead.' Sometimes I'll sip red wine - it's a nice way to slow down and relax.

We know that if you educate a girl, as the saying goes, you educate a nation. That girl will get married later, she will have fewer children, she's more likely to earn an income, and that income is more likely to be plowed back into the family so that the family benefits.

If I could send my daughter's first mother a card, I would write, 'Thank you for sharing this incredible journey with me. Together we have raised one awesome girl!'