Becoming a mother has helped make me a tougher, stronger writer.

I'm preparing for a multimedia theater piece, Airport Music, that's coming up in New York City.

My identity is linked to my grandmother, who's pure Filipino, as pure as you can probably get. And that shaped my imagination. So that's how I identify.

I don't believe in sampling some Tibetan music just to make it sound groovy, but you do your homework, you understand what you're doing with it.

Don't say Fili, sister. Say Pili. In Tagalog, pili means to choose. Pino means fine. Pilipino equals 'fine choice.

Adaptability is the simple secret of survival.

Everything matters. Time is precious.

Hybridity keeps me from being rigid about most things. It has taught me to appreciate the contradictions in the world and in my life. I scavenge from the best.

Life is not simple, and people can't be boxed into being either heroes or villains.

I love writing dialogue, and I think a lot of my writing is visual and very cinematic.

[On The Philippines:] ... eighty dialects and languages are spoken; we are a fragmented nation of loyal believers, divided by blood feuds and controlled by the Church.

When the voices of doubt start whispering, turn-up the volume of faith and listen to your heart.

Friends are the siblings God never gave us.

I try not to break the rules, but merely to test their elasticity.

I'm not a very good actor, so I break character all the time.

[Failure is hard initially because] One knows what one has lost, but not what one may find [and learn from that failure]!

When you're visiting an antiques fair, turn left once you've passed through the entrance. Everyone else will turn right, which means you can get to the bargains before them.

Propositions show what they say: tautologies and contradictions show that they say nothing.

But Racine's extraordinary powers as a writer become still more obvious when we consider that besides being a great poet he is also a great psychologist.

Refuse to give up, your mistakes don't define you. They don't dictate where you're headed, they remind you.