Mary Doria Russell

“The trick is not to care. I have a perfect indifference to winning.”

— Mary Doria Russell

The sign of a good decision is the multiplicity of reasons for it.

— Mary Doria Russell

“Jesus Christ," Jimmy breathed, meeting the future by turning to the ancient past.”

— Mary Doria Russell

“And she laughed, a full octave, descending from high C like chimes.”

— Mary Doria Russell

“Stability and order have always been paid for with captivity and blood. (76)”

— Mary Doria Russell

“What unnatural words: always and forever! Not even stones are always and forever.”

— Mary Doria Russell

No matter how dark the tapestry God weaves for us, there's always a thread of grace.

— Mary Doria Russell

Love is a debt, she thought. When the bill comes, you pay in grief.

— Mary Doria Russell

“In the North, he discoverd, courtesy was considered a barometer of genuine esteem; for any decently brought up Southerner, good manners were…

— Mary Doria Russell

“You know how people say, Don't borrow trouble? Well, said Morgan, I guess it's the opposite of that. Doc is borrowing happiness.”

— Mary Doria Russell

“We are none of us born into Eden," Doc said reasonably. "world's plenty evil when we get here. Question is, what's the…

— Mary Doria Russell

...I begin with songs. They provide a sort of skeleton grammar for me to flesh out. Songs of longing for future tense,…

— Mary Doria Russell

“The household was densely populated by a lively gang of children, homemade and Fostered, mix thoroughly and well.”

— Mary Doria Russell

“Horses are mirrors. They'll show you back whatever you show them. Watch a man with a horse, and you'll see what's inside…

— Mary Doria Russell

The dachshund is a perfectly engineered dog. It is precisely long enough for a single standard stroke of the back, but you…

— Mary Doria Russell

“He ain't big and he ain't strong, but that boy's got a by-God streak of fight in him. And he was going…

— mary doria russell

“Why, he had once wondered, would a perfect God create the universe? To be generous with it, he believed now. For the…

— Mary Doria Russell

“The problem with atheism, I find, under these circumstances, is that I have no one to despise but myself. If, however, I…

— Mary Doria Russell

When we were 15, my girlfriend Ruth Kaplan and I applied to the Universidad Ibero-Americana in Mexico City. We were accepted into…

— Mary Doria Russell

Maybe if I'd studied writing instead of anthropology, I'd be more sensible. You know - pick a genre, follow the rules, stay…

— Mary Doria Russell

“When the bet is placed," he said, "a moment is carved away from the past and the future. In that enchanted moment,…

— Mary Doria Russell

“They strolled toward town, stopping now and then to let him catch his breath and to gaze upward, for the west Kansas…

— Mary Doria Russell

Like so many Boomers, I saw 'Lawrence of Arabia' in 1962 when it was first released and when we were young teenagers.…

— Mary Doria Russell

“What is it in humans that makes us so eager to believe ill of one another? ... What makes us so hungry…

— Mary Doria Russell

“There are times...when we are in the midst of life-moments of confrontation with birth or death, or moments of beauty when nature…

— Mary Doria Russell

“They were quiet for a time, alone with their thoughts, but then John sat up straight, struck by a thought. "There's a…

— Mary Doria Russell

“[John] watched the flames for a while. "I would have to say that I find God in serving His children. 'When I…

— Mary Doria Russell

“Abandon a dachshund and upon your return, you may well be confronted with a small token of her displeasure. This, for the…

— Mary Doria Russell

The Jewish sages also tell us that God dances when His children defeat Him in argument, when they stand on their feet…

— Mary Doria Russell

“Every one of them has a story, and every story begins with a man who failed her. A husband who came home…

— Mary Doria Russell

“As many as thirty or as few as ten years later, lying exhausted and still, eyes open in the dark long after…

— Mary Doria Russell

“He felt as though he were a prism, gathering up God’s love like white light and scattering it in all directions, and…

— Mary Doria Russell

How can you hear your soul if everyone is talking?

— Mary Doria Russell

Cleveland is really good about recognizing its artists because of the Arts Council.

— Mary Doria Russell

“I suppose I should warn you, Padre. In the absence of male supervision, my mother has become a revolutionary." ~Renzo Leoni”

— Mary Doria Russell

If we keep demanding that God yield up His answers, perhaps some day we will understand them. And then we will be…

— Mary Doria Russell

In my worldview, there are filers, and there are pilers. Filers think alphabetically. Pilers think geologically.

— Mary Doria Russell

The characters Im most emotionally involved with are like friends you leave behind when you move away. You dont see them regularly…

— Mary Doria Russell

“At the risk of descent into unscientific generalization, I must report to you that ninety percent of Texans give the other ten…

— Mary Doria Russell

God's got a lot of explaining to do. Of course, God never explains. When life breaks your heart, you're just supposed to…

— Mary Doria Russell