I went to the top of Vesuvius and looked in.

Happy is what you realize you are a fraction of a second before it's too late.

Every great narrative is at least two narratives, if not more - the thing that is on the surface and then the things underneath which are invisible.

Books mean all possibilities. They mean moving out of yourself, losing yourself, dying of thirst and living to your full. They mean everything.

I wouldn't call my work Modernist. I would rust if I try to think about labels. I'd feel like the Tin Man in 'The Wizard of Oz.

To be known so well by someone is an unimaginable gift. But to be imagined so well by someone is even better.

Oh. To be filled with goodness then shattered by goodness, so beautifully mosaically fragmented by such shocking goodness.

Stella Duffy is a writer who never lets you down.

Do you come to art to be comforted, or do you come to art to be re-skinned?

We'd never expect to understand a piece of music on one listen, but we tend to believe we've read a book after reading it just once.

Short stories consume you faster. They're connected to brevity. With the short story, you are up against mortality. I know how tough they are as a form, but they're also a total joy.

They knew, though, she would not suffer as they had suffered. She was perfect. They were scarred.

All beauty, according to Lady Katchatka, had its origins in pain.

I'm not saying homeschooling will be easy. I am saying it will be worth it.

We know we are all tarnished, so we doubt everyone else too. It is sad situation, where we need a leader but cannot really trust anyone.

One of the by-products of being a perfectionist and constantly trying to improve myself are sobering feelings of low-grade anxiety and a nagging sense of inadequacy This anxiety keeps me humble.

If there's even one thing we can do - even one life we can save - we have an obligation to try

Is it possible to grow wiser without knowing it? One hopes so. We all hope so.

Sen. Obama is a decent person and a person you don't have to be scared of as president of the United States.

It is true that the eyes dominate the ears in our time.

The function of government is to provide you with service; the function of the media is to supply the Vaseline.