I have always held the old-fashioned opinion that the primary object of work of fiction should be to tell a story.

Live your life in such a way that it is going to be the favorite story of your generation and generations to come.

I've been obsessed with stories since I was a kid so it's no surprise that I ended up writing for a living.

My characters don't always know more than the reader does, because my readers get the best seat in Paper House.

To paraphrase Muggeridge: Everything is a parable that God is speaking to us, the art of life is to get the message.

Art is the bridge across the gap between peoples and cultures. Writing is one of the arts that can help link people.

Writing nonfiction means I tell people's stories for them, not because they're special but because we all are.

I think the best stories always end up being about the people rather than the event, which is to say character-driven.

If you believe nothing else I say, you need to believe that every word I tell you from this point on is a complete lie

Trust the story ... the storyteller may dissemble and deceive, the story can't: the story can only ever be itself.

The Leadership Seduction of storytelling invites self-pity, exaggerates one's importance, and encourages inaction.

It would seem that the more irresponsible and crafty one is, the more likely one is to have a talent for storytelling.

Children played at those stories; they dreamed about them. They took them to heart and acted as if to live inside them.

I think if a story has a message it should be incidental and accidental, otherwise it leans too close to indoctrination.

The business of stories is not enchantment. The business of stories is not escape. The business of stories is waking up.