When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home.

Anything you read can influence your work, so I try to read good stuff.

I go straight from thinking about my narrator to being him.

I grew up here and my friends are here. There's nothing wrong with here.

I have no idea why I write. The old standards are: I like to express my feelings, stretch my imagination, earn money.

I like having a private name and a public name. It helps keep things straight.

I was a tomboy and most of my close friends were male.

Movies can't ruin books. They can only ruin movies.

My characters are fictional. I get ideas from real people, sometimes, but my characters always exist only in my head.

Sometimes, I feel like I spent the first part of my life wishing to be a teen-age boy, and the second part condemned to being one.

When I see a movie with someone it's kind of uncomfortable.

Keep a watch also on the faults of the patients, which often make them lie about the taking of things prescribed.

Make a habit of two things: to help; or at least to do no harm.

Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity.

If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health.

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.

A wise man should consider that health is the greatest of human blessings, and learn how by his own thought to derive benefit from his illnesses.

Natural forces within us are the true healers of disease.

Cure sometimes, treat often, comfort always.

Whenever a doctor cannot do good, he must be kept from doing harm.

Walking is man's best medicine.

Science is the father of knowledge, but opinion breeds ignorance.

It is more important to know what sort of person has a disease than to know what sort of disease a person has.