Americans are incredibly polite as long as they get what they want.

Somewhere along the way America became a giant mall with a country attached.

It took me 10 years to write a story that pleased me - that I could look at after it was published and not cringe.

It is sort of weird being honored for the worst day of your life.

Late bloomer' is another way of saying 'slow learner.

By the end of the first decade of writing, I considered myself a confirmed failure in the eyes of the world.

I never listen to music when I'm writing.

There was no such thing as perfection in this world, only moments of such extreme transparency that you forgot yourself, a holy mercy if there ever was one.

If you could figure out how to live with family then you'd gone a long way toward finding your peace.

The funny thing is, about the time I let go of any aspiration toward worldly success, that's about the time I started writing decent work.

I kept going back while I was writing the novel - which never sold, may it rest in peace - and by the time it was finished I had too many connections to Haiti to walk away.

What a joy for those who trust in the Lord!

Each breath I breathe is one more chance to share my love with those around me.

Atomism had no absolute 'above' and 'below' and no such rulers, so favoured the undersranding of justice as an agreement amongst equals.

It's not that I don't like penises. I just don't like them on men.

Power broken into a thousand pieces can be hidden and disowned.

A negative attitude toward others can never bring me success.

Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it.

Music is an incomparably more powerful means and is a subtler language for expressing the thousand different moments of the soul's moods.

The death rate is the same for us as for anybody ... one person, one death, sooner or later.

The largest tax reduction in American history, one page tax form, reducing government spending. Those are all the keys to economic progress.