A writer must be willing to be uncomfortable.

To make mistakes is human. To own your mistakes is divine. Nothing elevates a person higher than quickly admitting and taking personal responsibility for the mistakes you make and then fixing them fairly. If you mess up， fess up. It’s astounding how powerful this ownership is.

I don't listen to what people say. I just go out there and do my best.

Feeling is the secret.

"The past whispers to us through the pages of a biography."

With a library you are free, not confined by temporary political climates. It is the most democratic of institutions because no one - but no one at all - can tell you what to read and when and how.

A leader's job isn't to have all the answers, but to ask the right questions.

The key is to keep improving, keep fighting, keep believing.