As a writer I am proud that if you took my last four books, and they didn't have my name on them, I don't think readers would know they were by the same author.

There is no particular source my stories come from. The stories always seem to be there waiting for me, though sometimes shrouded in mist and fog.

Writing a novel, I am making is an object that has a life and identity of its own, apart from me.

There is nothing wrong with a writer who has a distinct style in book after book, but I am not interested in repeating myself.

Education inspires the educated to think for themselves. Schooled programs the schooled to work for others.

Where life used to feel overcrowded, it now feels boundless as the sky. Where I used to feel shackled, I am now free to dance.

You can fool people some of the time, but you can't fool them all of the time.

The guitar is the easiest instrument to play and the hardest to play well.

It is not for us . . . to send out missionaries to foreign peoples; it is our task to build up our own Western culture.

The house is a factory.

Your instinct is your true god. Follow it.

I'm a big guy, but I'm really simple with the food. I'll hit the In-N-Out or just the regular buffets.

Build an organization that can tackle the tough things and keep moving.

Let peace and beauty reign.