Jill Ker Conway quotes:

William Armstrong is a great teacher. He speaks truthfullyabout the discipline required for learning, and about the pleasures oforder and system in acquiring knowledge. Any reader, of any age, will enjoythis book.

Why is autobiography the most popular form of fiction for modern readers?

You never know what you'll want to write until it starts writing itself in your head.

Some friendships in life sustain themselves only at a particular life stage, products of some mutual developmental problem to be resolved together, or of some external circumstance, like being housed in the same dormitory in boarding school. Others grow out of a deeper spiritual and philosophical affinity, which continues throughout life.

I learned that time manages the most painful partings for us. One has only to set the date, buy the ticket, and let the earth, sun, and moon make their passages through the sky, until inexorable time carries us with it to the moment of parting.

I had the total attention of both my parents, and was secure in the knowledge of being loved ... My memories of falling asleep at night are to the comfortable sound of my parents' voices, voices which conveyed in their tones the message that these two people loved and trusted one another.