Barbara Kingsolver: "It seemed so ordinary..."

"It seemed so ordinary on the face of things, to try to do what nearly all people used to do without a second thought."

—Barbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (on growing one's own food)

Barbara Kingsolver: "All stories, they say..."

"All stories, they say, begin in one of two ways: 'A stranger came to town,' or else, 'I set out upon a journey.'" The rest is all just metaphor and simile.

—Barbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Barbara Kingsolver: "But rare is the perfect..."

"But rare is the perfect first attempt. I know as well as the next person who has ever been young."

—Barbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Barbara Kingsolver: "From a biological perspective..."

"From a biological perspective, the ultimate act of failure is to raise helpless kids."

—Barbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Barbara Kingsolver: "We're converts in progress..."

"Our locavore project nudged us constantly toward new personal bests. But is always remained fascination, not fanaticism. We still ate out at restaurants with friends sometimes, and happily accepted invitations to dine at their homes. People who knew about our project would get flustered sometimes about inviting us, or when seeing us in a restaurant would behave as if they'd caught the cat eating the canary.

We always explained, 'We're converts in progress, not preachers. No stone tablets.'"

—Barbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Barbara Kingsolver: "Cooking is 80 percent..."

"Cooking is 80 percent confidence, a skill best acquired starting from when the apron strings wrap around you twice."

—Barbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Barbara Kingsolver: "Where my kids are concerned..."

"Where my kids are concerned I find myself hoping for the simplest things: that if someday they crave orchards where their kids can climb into the branches and steal apples, the world will have trees enough with arms to receive them."

—Barbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle