I read an awful lot in college - a lot of Dickens, a lot of 19th century American stuff, a lot of old mysteries. Maybe it's helped me attain a certain fluidity with my style.

Sunrises and sunsets are real jerks about putting things in perspective.

You don't have to be a genius when you're surrounded by morons.

It doesn't pay to be good at something unless you are the absolute best at it.

Insanity is just what we call stupidity when it doesn't make sense.

Gratitude can sometimes be as annoying as whininess.

I thought I was going to be a poet when I was in college, but then I found out I was poor so I decided to do something I'd get paid for.

The more you write, the faster you'll write, and the less you'll mind throwing stuff out.

Crime is for poor people. You don't need to rob the bank if you own it.

I can't focus on any one day, because I always have to be ready for the next. It's fun but frenetic - like living in a circus that never stops performing.

A lot of young writers are very precious about their words. Don't be - you've got to be ready to burn stuff. You're not as good as you think you are, at least not yet.

I’ll always love you, no matter what happens, okay?

"No" isn't really a word I understand.

It's hard to explain why I like Europe so much.

The seasons change and you change, but the Lord abides evermore the same, and the streams of His love are as deep, as broad and as full as ever.

A republic, by which I mean a government in which the scheme of representation takes place, opens a different prospect and promises the cure for which we are seeking.

People that are interested in me, I like to be interested in them.

Every human being has creative powers. You were born to create. Appreciate your inborn potential.

Man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become the next moment. By the same token, every human being has the freedom to change at any instant.

We are spinning our own fates, good or evil, never to be undone.