Don't listen to other people's advice unless it is rooted in irrepressible enthusiasm (e.g., "Be afraid but do it anyway"), or about the importance of being a good colleague.

I am interested in the loneliness and isolation that we can feel when we hide feelings we are ashamed of, especially if they concern people that we love.

I am interested in the complicated choreography of close relationships.

I'm looking for somekind of permanence, so my mark will linger on the world once I'm gone, in the places where I found joy.." -Page 81

Lyall's face went deadpan as he relayed the details, as those who are tortured or raped will become when they retell the pattern of abuse

God chose Memphis as the place that I will continue my career.

I really thought I was on the way out. My husband Blake saved my life. Often I don't know what I do, then the next day the memory returns. And then I am engulfed in shame.

We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity.

I'm marrying my common-law wife, Beth, the Christian way, with a preacher and all that.

What bliss will fill the ransomed souls, when they in glory dwell, to see the sinner as he rolls, in quenchless flames of hell.

I spend a lot of time near water.

Something about that whole process of building the structure of that game turned into a real kind of lightbulb moment for me as a writer.

Selfishness is not living your life as you wish to live it. Selfishness is wanting others to live their lives as you wish them to.