For me, before I learned how to read I was really interested in story and in landscape and nature. I decided to become a writer almost as soon as I learned to read.

There is no one as dangerous as he or she who has nothing to lose.

Leave the door open for the unknown, the door into the dark. That’s where the most important things come from, where you yourself came from, and where you will go.

A book is a heart that only beats in the chest of another.

To be hopeful means to be uncertain about the future, to be tender toward possibilities, to be dedicated to change all the way down to the bottom of your heart.

Worry is a way to pretend that you have knowledge or control over what you don't--and it surprises me, even in myself, how much we prefer ugly scenarios to the pure unknown.

Joy doesn't betray but sustains activism. And when you face a politics that aspires to make you fearful, alienated and isolated, joy is a fine initial act of insurrection.

Politics is pervasive. Everything is political and the choice to be "apolitical" is usually just an endorsement of the status quo and the unexamined life.

Memory, even in the rest of us, is a shifting, fading, partial thing, a net that doesn't catch all the fish by any means and sometimes catches butterflies that don't exist.

Every minute of every hour of every day you are making the world, just as you are making yourself, and you might as well do it with generosity and kindness and style.

Revolution is as unpredictable as an earthquake and as beautiful as spring. Its coming is always a surprise, but its nature should not be.

A life without integrity, faith, courage and a positive purpose, is an unnecessary gamble with no positive possibility.

Pride is a very dangerous disease that can turn your talent, asset, and achievements into a handicap.

If you choose to be fearless, then be fearlessly authentic not an imitation of someone you envy.

Laugh and the world laughs with you Weep and you weep alone For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth But has trouble enough of its own.

There were creative-writin g teachers long before there were creative-writin g courses, and they were called and continue to be called editors.

There's nothing like walking out and watching the people get turned on. Nothing in the world could replace it.

To get rid of depression, I swim with dolphins.

I hate all sidekicks.

Nick and I could become goodwill ambassadors for the city now that the porno shops on 42nd Street are gone. Must make mental note to contact mayor.

I see a man's life is a tedious one.