I try not to become too regular an addict of any one subculture.

I never take any notes or draw charts or make elaborate diagrams, but I hold an image of the shape of a book in my head and work from that mental hologram.

I've never related to the work geek at all-it sounds much more horrible than nerd. Like a freak biting a chicken's head off in a sideshow.

I learned to write fiction the way I learned to read fiction - by skipping the parts that bored me.

Someday I would change my name to Shut Up and save everybody a lot of time.

I work on a laptop specifically so I can work in cafes and pretend I'm part of the human world.

What age is a black boy when he learns he's scary?

It was only as I wrote about fear that I began to find paths of access to feelings that were intolerable to me then.

I want what we all want," said Carl. "To move certain parts of the interior of myself into the exterior world, to see if they can be embraced.

I can't bear the silent ringing in my skull.

Some people have things written all over their faces; the big guy had a couple of words misspelled in crayon on his.

Despotism is a legitimate mode of government in dealing with barbarians, provided the end be their improvement.

If you like easygoing monogamous men stay away from billionaires.

When you get close to the raw materials and taste them at the moment they let go of the soil, you learn to respect them.

It was quite a sight to see Obama next to President Hu. Obama has a Nobel Peace Prize in his basement, and Hu has a Nobel Peace Prize winner in his.

When she bleeds the smells I know change colour. There is iron in her soul on those days. She smells like a gun.

Amateurs practice until they get it right. Professionals practice until it can't go wrong.

Fill you mind with the meaningless stimuli of a world preoccupied with meaningless things, and it will not be easy to feel peace in your heart.

A wise, joyous bookit unfolds the knowledge and the beauty of the two lives it embraces-old wisdom and young discover, intertwining like vines.

I would rather lose money than trust

In Europe life is histrionic and dramatized, and in America, except when it is trying to be European, it is direct and sincere.