Unless you have read and absorbed the best that can be read and absorbed, you will not think clearly or well.

Everyone wants a prodigy to fail; it makes our mediocrity more bearable.

The most beautiful prose paragraph yet written by any American.

We read, frequently if not unknowingly, in search of a mind more original than our own.

I realized early on that the academy and the literary world alike

It is hard to go on living without some hope of encountering the extraordinary.

Shakespeare is the true multicultural author. He exists in all languages. He is put on the stage everywhere. Everyone feels that they are represented by him on the stage.

At our present bad moment, we need above all to recover our sense of literary individuality and of poetic autonomy.

Read deeply, not to believe, not to accept, not to contradict, but to learn to share in that one nature that writes and reads.

Reading well is one of the greatest pleasures that solitude can afford you.

The art and passion of reading well and deeply is waning, but [Jane] Austen still inspires people to become fanatical readers.

Truth is a fundamental principle that is needed for any form of building or construction. So also is honesty.

Forgiveness is like faith. You have to keep reviving it.

I've been very lucky. There were times when I was afraid I would never sell another book, but I never doubted I'd write another book.

I might look as average as the next person but I had a few secrets up my sleeves. And lots of knives of course.

Don't choose me. I'm not worth your time.

It's insane that there are actually people listening to my music all over the world, which is amazing.

I want to give back. I want to do all the things that will make me feel fulfilled. But whenever I do those things, people think it's a press stunt or something.

I alter some things, eliminate and try again until I am satisfied. Then begins the mental working out of this material in its breadth, its narrowness, its height and depth.

The only way to beat my crazy was by doing something even crazier. Thank you. I love you. I knew it from the moment I saw you. I'm sorry it took me so long to catch up.

I was born and raised in Ohio. During my childhood, I spent most of my time drawing and reading fairy tales and myths.