At 17, the gratitude part of their brain is a little undercooked.

It turns out there is only one possible thing to do in this circumstance, to wait the only way there is to wait through eternity, and that is through creativity.

Reading a book is something you do to yourself.

You don't think any job's a job unless it's your job.

Amusement, even ironic amusement, is the beginning of sincere appreciation, as any lapsed hipster knows.

There are more treasures hiding in between your ears than can be hidden in the whole earth.

Literature is the question without the answer. Philosophy is the answer without the question.

A metaphor is not an ornament. It is an organ of perception. Through metaphors, we see the world as one thing or another.

What happened when we died? How were we to know that death wasn't as profound an adventure as life was?

Acting requires risk, and that's what feeling vulnerable is.

If we're free from the burden of trying to be completely original, we can stop trying to make something out of nothing, and we can embrace influence instead of running from it.

By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.

I saw why people died and how they died. I saw gunshot wounds and liver failure. It was a good learning experience, so I came regularly on weekends and holidays.

There are now electrical appliances with the main unit so sealed in that it cannot be got at for repair. There have always been human beings like that.

The brave or the fortunate can afford to laugh at envy.