I simply decided once and for all to liberate myself from the anxiety of notoriety and the urge to be a part of that circle of successful people, those who believe they have won who-knows-what

The rules say that to tell a story you need first of all a measuring stick, a calendar, you have to calculate how much time has passed between you and the facts, the emotions to be narrated.

The circle of an empty day is brutal and at night it tightens around your neck like a noose

I believe that books, once they are written, have no need of their authors.

It's the people who love us or hate us - or both - who hold together the thousands of fragments we are made of.

Existence is this, I thought, a start of joy, a stab of pain, an intense pleasure, veins that pulse under the skin, there is no other truth to tell.

I didn't choose anonymity.Instead, I chose absence.

I think our sexuality is all yet to be recounted and that the rich male literary tradition constitutes a huge obstacle.

I don't have any special passion for politics, it being a never-ending merry-go-round of bosses big and small, all generally mediocre. I actually find it boring.

In order not to cut out a large part of one's private life, the creative work should not swallow up every other form of self-expression. But that is the most complicated thing.

I have always paid careful attention to social and economic conflicts, to the dialectic - if we can call it that - between high and low. Maybe it's because I was not born or brought up in affluence.

We don’t need to be crippled any longer by the disease of sin—because God has provided the cure.

I hate studying and I hate partying. But I'm okay with motocross. And muscles.Motocross and Muscles. Now that should be a Lifetime movie.

To be a true success, you must prepare yourself for an ocassional failure to gain experience and wisdom.

The way to forget our miseries, is to remember the God of our mercies.

You do not have to respond to a tiny annoying mosquito with a large hammer. You know what will happen? You will miss and hurt yourself.

We're always trying to do a better job on that and that's what we'll continue to do.

I wish I weren’t reeling at all.

I obviously wanted to play for the Kansas City Royals. (Laughter) I also knew that was far-fetched. The truth is I don't really know what I wanted to do.

I think someone should explain to the child that it's OK to make mistakes. That's how we learn. When we compete, we make mistakes.

The answer is hard work. What are you doing on Christmas Eve? Are you riding your bike? January 1st - are you riding your bike?