Sichuan food would not be Sichuanese without the hot chilies that arrived before 1700 from South America.

Manhattan is a narrow island off the coast of New Jersey devoted to the pursuit of lunch.

The noncook is in a helpless position, much like that of the car owner who can’t change a tire and has to depend on mechanics to keep his automobile running.

Arthur Rimbaud was a disreputable, mean, ruthless, perverse, hateful wretch. He was also one of the greatest poets who ever lived.

Only the river is free, always changing but always the same.

I have said democracy and freedom do not work too well if you are hungry, if you are starving.

Pageantry is a visionary art which has been used, from time immemorial, as a political instrument.

I should have known the power-hungry slave drivers at River's Edge would see my five days of freedom only as a challenge to be filled.

When God accepts a sinner, He is, in fact, only accepting Christ. He looks into the sinner's eyes, and He sees His own dear Son's image there, and He takes him in.

I'm a very creative person, and the best part about creation is creating. So I always love to come up with new things, new ideas, new thoughts. I cherish things like that.

You can't put feathers on a dog and call it a chicken!

In fact I try to spend at least one, if not two days without ever leaving my room. Because if I didn't, when would I recharge my batteries?

A goal is different from a wish. You may wish to be rich, but there's no responsibility for it. With a goal, it's on you to achieve it.

Honesty and authenticity are a big deal for me.

Fiction is about feeling, which is to say that short stories are about all of us.