... scarred by wisdom she'd never asked for.

There's something ugly about the flawless.

Narrative becomes the way you make sense of chaos. That's how you focus the world. It's the only reason you should ever try this writing job.

In Greek tragedy, they fall from great heights. In noir, they fall from the curb.

Happiness comes in moments, & then it's gone until the next time. Could be years. But sadness settles it.

It's hard to close the door on optimistic expectations when you love someone.

There are so many more important things to worry about than how you're perceived by strangers.

The foundation of your life is luck. Hard work and talent make up the difference.

There are threads in our lives. You pull one, and everything else gets affected.

Chuck said, “Hey. How many surrealists does it take to screw in a lightbulb?” Cawley looked over at him. “I’ll bite. How many?” “Fish,” Chuck said and let loose a bright bark of a laugh.

What molds us is what maims us.

The only way to find true happiness is to risk being completely cut open.

There is no such thing as a failed test. You will learn every time you challenge yourself.

The test of mountain-top experiences, of mysticism, of visions of God and of solitariness is when you are “in the soup” of actual circumstances.

Life is full of paradoxes, as roses are of thorns.

Yoga is a way to produce a chemistry of blissfulness. Once you are blissful by your own nature, you can deal with outside situations effortlessly.

I knew de Kooning and I went to his studio so I knew about de Kooning's work. But only a little handful knew about it, you know. Maybe there were ten people that knew about it.

A genuine faith resolves the mystery of life by the mystery of God.

A mad, keen photographer needs to get out into the world and work and make mistakes.

It's very important to make the man believable so that you can stretch the fantasy. Whether people like this kind of Bond is another question.

Poetry says the things that I can't say. I read a lot, but I never write it.