I've never been that confident. I don't tend to think, swaggeringly, I'm going to ace this. It's just not who I am.

I was a stepchild in two different families. The hardest thing about being a stepchild is you know that in some way everything would be easier if you didnt exist.

If I had a view like this to look down on every day, I would have the energy and inspiration to conquer the world. The trouble is, when you most need such a view, no one gives it to you.

Read at the level at which you want to write. Reading is the nourishment that feeds the kind of writing you want to do.

Goon Squad' took about three years to write and that's the short end. My second novel, 'Look at Me,' took six years.

I don’t want to fade away, I want to flame away - I want my death to be an attraction, a spectacle, a mystery. A work of art.

Because you can't write habitually and well all the time, you have to be willing to write badly. That's how you get the regularity that enables you to be present for the good stuff.

Reading is the nourishment that lets you do interesting work.

I'm always happy," Sasha said. "Sometimes I just forget.

The answers were maddeningly absent—it was like trying to remember a song that you knew made you feel a certain way, without a title, artist, or even a few bars to bring it back.

Vinegar: that's what fear smells like.

For success, attitude is often more important than education.

Strike the rock and the water will flow

Possibly in the lobby she saw someone who reminded her too much of herself (that can happen to inexperienced travelers). Or worse. That no one there reminded her of anyone she ever knew.

Oh, dear--did I forget to mention that you can, indeed, have it all, but you need a lot of help!

When works of art are presented like rare butterflies on the walls, they're decontextualized. We admire their beauty, and I have nothing against that, per se. But there is more to art than that.

When I consider the cross of Christ, how can anything that I do be called sacrifice?

I've seen innovation come from something as simple as a resourceful multibillionaire who wanted to make even more money.

You know one of the most encouraging things about faith? It pleases God.

The real function of the artist is to give fresh vision to their own generation.

I love being a part of the country-music community.