The best thing that can happen to people entering creative professions is the dwindling of all other possibilities.

There's something ugly about the flawless.

Narrative becomes the way you make sense of chaos. That's how you focus the world. It's the only reason you should ever try this writing job.

In Greek tragedy, they fall from great heights. In noir, they fall from the curb.

Happiness comes in moments, & then it's gone until the next time. Could be years. But sadness settles it.

It's hard to close the door on optimistic expectations when you love someone.

There are so many more important things to worry about than how you're perceived by strangers.

The foundation of your life is luck. Hard work and talent make up the difference.

There are threads in our lives. You pull one, and everything else gets affected.

Chuck said, “Hey. How many surrealists does it take to screw in a lightbulb?” Cawley looked over at him. “I’ll bite. How many?” “Fish,” Chuck said and let loose a bright bark of a laugh.

What molds us is what maims us.

If you can't trust, you can't be trustworthy.

You may often have to watch Jesus Christ wreck a life before He saves it.

When you look in your mind you find it covered with a lot of rubbishy thoughts. You have to penetrate these and hear what your mind is telling you to do. Such work is original work.

Saying that I've THOUGHT about it doesn't mean that I'm DOING it.

It’s not bad people I fear so much as good people. When a person is sure that he is good, he is nearly hopeless; he gets cruel- he believes in punishment.

I think that the, Ted Cruz is not even a natural-born citizen, argument will resonate for at least the next few weeks.

I am not, and have no interest in being, a musician of any kind.

Being on one crutch to no crutches is a huge difference.

I just found out last week - my sister told me - that my father had some Beatles records. So I must have heard them quite a bit, but it never registered, really. Now I listen to them with new ears.

Grief is the tax we pay on our attachments.