I grew up in San Francisco in the 1970s. We were part of a church that belonged to the California Jesus movement.

That's how you know you really trust someone, I think; when you don't have to talk all the time to make sure they still like you or prove that you have interesting stuff to say.

When the reader and one narrator know something the other narrator does not, the opportunities for suspense and plot development and the shifting of reader sympathies get really interesting.

The kind of life I want is to be a person who would get a personal note every day.

Try a little tenderness.

I remember being in high school and listening to Vivaldi's 'Winter' and being so overwhelmed with emotion.

It makes me think of Lazarus. He must have had those shadows after his miracle. You don't spend time in the tomb without it changing you, and everyone who was waiting for you to come out.

I had them all fooled into believing I was normal and well-adjusted, a rock of sensibility who could always be counted on to have a positive attitude.

Life was mostly made up of things you couldn’t control, full of surprises, and they weren’t always good. Life wasn’t what you made it. You were what life made you.

Because love, love is never finished. It circles and circles, the memories out of order and not always complete.

When the remembering was done, the forgetting could begin.

The days weren't long enough for the reading she wanted to do.

The only thing that saves us from the bureaucracy is inefficiency. An efficient bureaucracy is the greatest threat to liberty.

My reaction when I hear the word 'celebrity' is, 'Who, me?' It doesn't feel like I'm famous.

Every drop in the ocean counts.

Use Me is a wonderfully satisfying book.

I never say 'never,' and I never say 'always.'

I established a certain standard of behavior, that, during my playing, there must be no talking.

When State Way Gardens and The Robert Taylor Homes were being torn down, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to use that as a backdrop for the development of a super hero narrative.

Use anything you can think of to understand and be understood, and you'll discover the creativity that connects you with others.

I would love to be a well-educated black, because I believe they do have an actual advantage.