I believe that, more than anything else, this grief of constantly having to face down our own inadequacies is what keeps people from being writers. F…

- Ann Patchett

Reading fiction is important. It is a vital means of imagining a life other than our own, which in turn makes us more empathetic beings. Following co…

- Ann Patchett

Reading fiction not only develops our imagination and creativity, it gives us the skills to be alone. It gives us the ability to feel empathy for peo…

- Ann Patchett

It is said the sesta is one of the only gifts the Europeans brought to South America, but I imagine the Brazilians could have figured out how to slee…

- Ann Patchett

You throw a person in the river and then make a spectacle of jumping in to save them.

- Ann Patchett

Because of her singing they all went away feeling moved, feeling comforted, feeling, perhaps, the slightest tremors of faith.

- Ann Patchett

Using your imagination is the one time in life you can really go anywhere.

- Ann Patchett

Happiness compresses time, makes it dense and bright, pocketsized.

- Ann Patchett

Show kindness whenever possible. Show it to the people in front of you, the people coming up behind you, and the people with whom you are running nec…

- Ann Patchett