"Only in failure do you reach success. You can only get to the good stuff when you've done the hard stuff."

“the whole idea of boys being people you would actually choose to spend time with was pretty much totally incomprehensible to me. i could never think of anything to say to them, and they seemed equally dumbstruck by my presence.”

Source : Ellen Wittlinger (2012). “Blind Faith”, p.19, Simon and Schuster

“I try to be as quiet as I can at the plate, but still aggressive.”

“At first, I did stories on people who were maybe just eccentric. Omar was a natural progression from that.”

“I've always done food that can work in a set time frame. The message I'm trying to get across is, it doesn't have to take three days to do this. With planning, you can do a lot and really have quality food every day.”

“There are no mistakes and it's never boring on the edge of imagination, which is only pure spirit having a bit of fun.”

“He stood staring into the wood for a minute, then said: "What is it about the English countryside — why is the beauty so much more than visual? Why does it touch one so?" He sounded faintly sad. Perhaps he finds beauty saddening — I do myself sometimes. Once when I was quite little I asked father why this was and he explained that it was due to our knowledge of beauty's evanescence, which reminds us that we ourselves shall die. Then he said I was probably too young to understand him; but I understood perfectly.”

Source : Dodie Smith, Frances Hodgson Burnett (2012). “Stop What You’re Doing and Read…To Your Daughter: I Capture the Castle & The Secret Garden”, p.123, Random House

“Only half a page left now. Shall I fill it with 'I love you, I love you'-- like father's page of cats on the mat? No. Even a broken heart doesn't warrant a waste of good paper.”

“A good man, though he will value his own countrymen, yet will think as highly of the worthy men of every nation under the sun.”