I realised that although I was fascinated with America, its history and culture, I was not interested in becoming American.

Like a four-sided porch I'm open to all winds.

I've always assumed it to be an absolute requirement for being a writer: to find all emotions and the sources of all behaviors somewhere within yourself.

Redheaded Peckerwood, which unerringly walks the fine line between fiction and nonfiction, is a disturbingly beautiful narrative about unfathomable violence and its place on the land

Subjectivity is my middle name, a trick memory is my pack mule, and self-contradiction is my trusty old jackknife.

I always give money to a sidewalk con if the story is a good one, even if I don't believe a word of it. Art deserves to get paid.

Unlike a bow and arrow, a camera by its nature ensures that some kind of target will always be hit, if not necessarily the intended target nor in the intended way.

New York has no truck with the past. It expels its dead.

I realize that books are not the entire world, even if they sometimes seem to contain it. But I need the stupid things.

I try to take pictures on their own terms, considering the historical and social context from which they emerge.

When I was a child I did engage in an arduous struggle to pass: learning English, getting rid of my accent, becoming conversant with the culture in all its large and small aspects.

If through a broken heart God can bring His purposes to pass in the world, then thank Him for breaking your heart.

For too long, musicians have been the greatest enemy of music. Their lack of desire to proselytize is a kind of betrayal.

Everybody has to be a little lucky, I think.

The greatest communication skill is paying value to others.

I will follow my father's footsteps by doing what is right, and God will take care of the rest. My father is my role model. My living role model is Cory Aquino.

The days are long, but the years are short.

Getting a woman's body and getting her heart are two different things. And gaining her trust is another problem entirely.

What a child doesn't receive he can seldom later give.

I hate being too pretty.

Love requited is a short circuit.