As my friend George Oppen once said to me about getting old: what a strange thing to happen to a little boy.

Novels are fictions and therefore they tell lies, but through those lies every novelist attempts to tell the truth about the world.

There's hope for everyone. That's what makes the world go round.

Stories only happen to those who are able to tell them.

It always stimulates me to discover new examples of my own prejudice and stupidity, to realize that I don't know half as much as I think I do.

One should never underestimate the power of books.

If you're not ready for everything, you're not ready for anything.

Everything can change at any moment, suddenly and forever.

It often happens that things are other than what they seem, and you can get yourself into trouble by jumping to conclusions.

Memory is the space in which a thing happens for a second time.

It seems to me that I will always be happy in the place where I am not.

We need to accept that we won’t always make the right decisions, that we’ll screw up royally sometimes–understanding that failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.

I've got my own toilet." -- Grace Harper

If you're interested in 'balancing' work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable.

Much of the possibility of being cheerful comes from the faculty of throwing oneself beyond oneself.

If a man does not talk to himself, it is because he is not worth talking to.

Truth is something you stumble into when you think you're going someplace else.

It's never too early to involve your kids in giving back. And the more hands-on the experiences are, the better.

Saxophone is one thing, and music is another.

When we turn our backs on feelings we should deal with, they fester and grow and ultimately consume us. Silence is denial. Silence is anxiety.

Nothing is real if you don't believe in who you are!