What I often forget about students, especially undergraduates, is that surface appearances are misleading. Most of them are at base as conventional as Presbyterian deacons.

Man rejection of the Truth is the root of his rebellion.

You never can grow unless you change. So fear the stagnation and embrace the change.

You shall judge of a man by his foes as well as by his friends.

Humility exists only in those who are poor enough to see that they possess nothing of their own.

Ignorance is the dominion of absurdity.

My experiences always influence my writing, but usually only on an emotional level. I have experienced death of a family member and it's easy to dredge up those feelings and get them on the page.

Suppressing your hurts is like not tending to a bullet wound. Eventually you will bleed out. Dont numb pain, express it.

Violence among boys is so valorized and so encouraged that you have to do things different in violence prevention with boys than with girls.

But how do I get to having to write a book?... It was a mother who bore me, not an inkwell!

I got an agent. He said, what do you wanna do, and I said, I want an Oscar nomination. That's your job, that's what I'm paying you for. And I got it.