Quotes from Gregory Maguire

That was such a wonderful time, even in its strangeness and sadness-and life isn't the same now. It's wonderful, but it isn't the same.

I shall pray for your soul,' promised Nessarose. I shall wait for your shoes,' Elphie answered.

Approval is overrated...Approval and disapproval alike satisfy those who deliver it more than those who receive it. I don't care for approval, and I don't mind doing without.

I never write a book unless I can't help it. Something has to bother me, like a mosquito, until I have to do something to relieve the itch.

My first job was scooping ice cream at Friendly's in Albany, New York. I hated the work, most of my colleagues, and the uniform, and I more or less lost my taste for ice cream permanently.

It's the work that's important, not the individual who does it.

So she listened hard. And she began to evolve, because stories work their magic that way. They build conviction and erode conviction in equal measure.

For fun? Maybe evil is an art form.

I actually prefer female voices to listen to, mostly, but among the male singers whose voices I like are Jeff Buckley, Art Garfunkel, that sort of voice. Contemporary crooners rather than rockers.

Only he with the hobbled foot fully knows the beauty of running. Only he with the severed ear can apprehend what the sweetest music must sound like. Our ailments complete us.

...perhaps charity is the kind of beauty that we comprehend the best because we miss it the most.

Remember this: Nothing is written in the stars. Not these stars, nor any others. No one controls your destiny.

The body apologizes to the soul for its errors, and the soul asks forgiveness for squatting in the body without invitation.