There was some open space between what he knew and what he tried to believe, but nothing could be done about it, and if you can't fix it you've got to stand it.

You know, one of the tragedies of real life is that there is no background music.

You should write because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page. Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write.

I wish I knew how to quit you.

Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write.

Anyway, there's something wrong with everybody and it's up to you to know what you can handle.

If you get the landscape right, the characters will step out of it, and they'll be in the right place.

We're all strange inside. We learn how to disguise our differences as we grow up.

I think it's important to leave spaces in a story for readers to fill in from their own experience.

Develop craftsmanship through years of wide reading.

What we fear we often rage against.

Every single person is sacred. Sacred means special, precious, a treasure of true beauty. That means you.

Life is made up of dots

That night, in the dark, dressed to kill, I lost my life—and became twenty forever.

There is a master way with words that cannot be learned but instead developed: a deaf man develops exceptional vision, a blind man exceptional hearing, a silent man, when given a piece of paper.

Believe your beliefs and doubt your doubts.

Humility is the time that you spend in love with existence.

Peace can be agreed around the conference table, but unless it grows in ordinary hearts and minds, it does not last. It may not even begin

When I was perceived as a black man I became a threat to public safety. When I was dressed as myself, it was my safety that was threatened.

America has shown its evil intentions, and the proud Iraqi people cannot accept it. They must defend their rights by any means they see fit.

The secret of ugliness consists not in irregularity, but in being uninteresting.