I think of the chimp, the one with the talking hands.

Just because you have stopped sinking doesn't mean you're not still underwater.

We can only die in the future, I thought; right now we are always alive.

Sometimes a flat-footed sentence is what serves, so you don't get all writerly: 'He opened the door.' There, it's open.

They say the smart dog obeys but the smarter dog knows when to disobey.

Good leaders being scarce, following yourself is allowed.

Wear your heart on the page, and people will read to find out how you solved being alive.

In my head there's a broken balcony I fall off of when I speak.

if it's true your life flashes past your eyes before you die, then it is also the truth that your life rushes forth when you are ready to start to truly be alive.

I sleep with a glass of water on the nightstand so I can see by its level if the coastal earth is trembling or if the shaking is still me.

I want to know everything about you, so I tell you everything about myself.

Learn to always celebrate the positive things in your life, and never hesitate to leave your negative experiences behind.

You are not yourself in autobiography. It is never going to be you, it is only words on a page. Memories are unreliable, so adding the magic of imagination will make your story come alive.

Human kind cannot bear very much reality.

I make music to process - because I have to, not for praise or accolades or reactions.

Every good time that goes on too long turns into a hell.

You become angry because something or someone has done something against your expectations.

It is with words as with sunbeams - the more they are condensed, the deeper they burn.

I have changed my mind. You can help cook by standing in a corner and not touching anything. Do it carefully. -Nick to Jamie

A library implies an act of faith which generations, still in darkness hid, sign in their night in witness of the dawn.

I care not whether a man is good or evil; all that I care / Is whether he is a wise man or a fool. Go! put off holiness, / And put on intellect.