I suppose that is my central obsession. What we owe to society, what we owe to ourselves.

• People's dreams are made out of what they do all day. The same way a dog that runs after rabbits will dream of rabbits. It's what you do that makes your soul, not the other way around.
• I think the most interesting parts of human experience might be the sparks that come from that sort of chipping flint of cultures rubbing against each other. And living on the border between Mexico and the U.S. for so many years gave me a lot of insight into that.
• 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.
• At home, growing up, we weren't really poor. We had everything we needed, we just didn't have what we wanted.
• The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope.
• The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof.
• Few people know so clearly what they want. Most people can't even think what to hope for when they throw a penny in a fountain.
• Wars and elections are both too big and too small to matter in the long run. The daily work - that goes on, it adds up.
• I used to think religion was just more of the same thing. Dump responsibility on the big guy. Now I see an importance in that. It's a relief to accept that not everything is under your control.