[Reality] isn't simply the so-called world that you're in. Your reality is a much larger one that takes in all matter of identification and desires and hopes.

Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the dead.

Boring people don't know they're boring. That's the problem with boring people.

I'm trying always to leave out what I think is extraneous. And to find what I think is the most wonderful language to make a beautiful sentence.

I think it's true that unless human beings experience something, they simply don't understand what people are going through.

I'm the author of my own misery.

I don't think anybody says to Coetzee or Dostoyevsky or Kafka, "Your characters aren't likeable." It's not about your character winning a popularity contest. That's not the writer's job.

It's not the writer who determines how good she is anyway. Writers don't determine that. It's readers who determine that.

Do the obvious, you won't forget it. Do the obvious, you won't regret it. Obvious, obvious, obvious.

Nonfiction gives you subjects. Writing fiction I can have more fun, but I have to invent my subject.

Without curiosity a writer is dead.

Compassion is even more powerful than courage. Sure, with courage you can conquer a world - but only with compassion can you heal and build it.

Don't. Please, just let me hold you a little bit longer," he mumbled into my hair

History is replete with examples of empires mounting impressive military campaigns on the cusp of their impending economic collapse.

You can do as much diligence as possible before you go somewhere to try to protect yourself and the people around you.

It's pitching, hitting and defense that wins. Any two can win. All three make you unbeatable.

It's hard to tell a shallow person that they should care more about the feelings of the awkward and the alienated.

Stressing the God-centered life can lead to an otherworldly withdrawal from everyday earthly life.

Reach for the sky Keep your eye on the prize Forever in my mind Be my golden sunshine It's raining in your mind So push them clouds aside Forever by my side You're my golden sunshine

I procrastinate to a point where I'm filled with self-loathing and then I start writing. It's usually a state of self-loathing that gets me going.

I still don't know why I fish or why other men fish, except that we like it and it makes us think and feel.