Something happens to people when they're masked. They become too free, uncivilized. They may do anything.

They have a saying, the French, that no woman, can be truly beautiful who is not also sometimes truly ugly.

I really don't know why Scarlett has such appeal. When I began writing the sequel, I had a lot of trouble because Scarlett is not my kind of person. She's virtually illiterate, has no taste, never learns from her mistakes.

Should-haves solve nothing. It's the next thing to happen that needs thinking about.

Should-haves solve nothing. It's the next thing to happen that needs thinking about.

We're not home-and-hearth people. We're the adventurers, the buccaneers, the blockade runners. Without challenge, we're only half alive.