I wanted to write a voice that for me, as a reader, had been missing from the chorus: the voice of an angry woman.

Above all, in my anger, I was sad. Isn't that always the way, that at the heart of the fire is a frozen kernel of sorrow that the fire is trying -- valiantly, fruitlessly -- to eradicate.

I've discovered over the years that the simplest explanation is almost always the right one; and that hunger of one kind or another - desire, by another name - is the source of almost every sorrow.

That's so her. You know, torn between Big Ideas and a party. She's always been that way.

To my mind, Guernica is the most important online intellectual and literary journal in America today.

Geniuses have the shortest biographies.

It doesn't ever occur to you, as you fashion your mask so carefully, that it will grow into your skin and graft itself, come to seem irremovable.

We read to find life, in all its possibilities.

I was funny -- ha-ha, not peculiar. It was a modest currency, like pennies: pedestrian, somewhat laborious, but a currency nonetheless. I was funny, in public, most often at my own expense.

Yes, writing is essential to me. It's my way of living in the world.

The more accurately one can illuminate a particular human experience, the better the work of art.

I suddenly asked my master Caeiro, “Are you at peace with yourself?” and he answered, “No, I’m at peace.” It was like the voice of the earth, which is everything and no one.

When a nation is under oppression for too long, it gets used to it and begins to agree with that oppression

Traits like humility, courage, and empathy are easily overlooked - but it's immensely important to find them in your closest relationships.

The only thing that I'm obsessed with is sleeping, and actually, it is more than an obsession, it is a pleasure.

I'm blessed with a pretty good voice. So just sitting back there banging on the tubs wasn't enough.

It won't be long before another day, were gonna have a good time. And no ones gonna take that time away. You can stay as long as you like

The only reason men fail is because of broken focus

I could never think well of a man's intellectual or moral character, if he was habitually unfaithful to his appointments.

I like to bow hunt, I do a lot of that. I don't get dressed up all too often, I'm pretty casual.

I think we all want to know that if our lives don't turn out the way we imagine, there's still a purpose.