She said that her job as a writer of fiction was to report on the human condition, to tel us who we are and what we think and what we do.

... and that was when I learned that work gets done if you simply do it.

This is not the story of my marriage. I cannot tell that story: I cannot take hold of, or lay out for anyone, the many swamps and grasses and pockets of fresh air and dank air that have gone over us.

I never wrote him. I never saw him again. He was just gone, this dear, dear man, this friend of my soul in the hospital so long ago, disappeared. This is a New York story too.

But early on I saw this: You are wasting time by suffering twice. I mention this only to show how many things the mind cannot will itself to do, even if it wants to.

Life is nothing but a dance of hope, desires, and love.

We do not have bodies—we are bodies! What could possibly be wrong with that form of consciousness? It is all energy anyways.

It's just a mistake, you understand you don't ya??... and Hello, father 33 days from your dead!

The real 19th century prophet was Dostoevsky, not Karl Marx.

Second edition of Earthworks I have the more traditional compositional approach, namely I write a piece from the piano.

human urine is both nutrient-rich and an effective tooth whitener

I played Mary Joe Fernandez in the semifinals. She was winning the first set. Second set was very close. I started to play this aggressive game. I think I surprised them.

The worship of safety emasculates greatness.

A good school provides a rounded education for the whole person. And a good Catholic school, over and above this, should help all its students to become saints.

I did not want to avoid service. I did realize reservists could be called up, and that it was something that I wanted to do.