I attempted briefly to consecrate myself in the public library, believing every crack in my soul could be chinked with a book.

No other continent has endured such an unspeakably bizarre combination of foreign thievery and foreign goodwill.

A choir of seedlings arching their necks out of rotted tree stumps, sucking life out of death. I am the forest's conscience, but remember, the forest eats itself and lives forever.

Like kids who only ever get socks for Christmas, but still believe with all their hearts in Santa.

Misunderstanding is my cornerstone. It's everyone's, come to think of it. Illusions mistaken for truth are the pavement under our feet.

Listen. Slide the weight from your shoulders and move forward. You are afraid you might forget, but you never will. You will forgive and remember.

I’ve seen how you can’t learn anything when you’re trying to look like the smartest person in the room.

Sugar, it's no parade but you'll get down the street one way or another, so you'd just as well throw your shoulders back and pick up the pace.

Every life is different because you passed this way and touched history.

God doesn’t need to punish us. He just grants us a long enough life to punish ourselves.

If the Lord hasn't got a boyfriend lined up for me to marry, that's his business.

We're too practical, I guess. You've got to be something of a dreamer to enjoy books

In the moment of decision, may you hear the voice of the Creator saying, ‘This is right road, travel on it.

You're supposed to raise your friends up, not be happy when they fail.

The simple act of sitting here sipping this cappuccino is its own testament to my commitment to living the writer’s life. Which is to say: doing nothing but doing it exceedingly well.

It's all interrelated, these destructive things I do. I latch on to people, like I'm collecting them. I'm always looking for a hero, you know?

Epitaph n: an inscription on a tomb showing that virtues acquired by death have a retroactive effect.

To me, boxing isn't about the other person. It's about me. My inner struggles. It works for me.

Most of what we call the classics of world literature suggest artifacts in a wax museum. We have to hire and pay professors to get them read and talked about.

This thing of being a hero, about the main thing to it is to know when to die.

You are the only person in existence who can use your potential. It is an awesome responsibility.