Whole swaths of the book [Lincoln in the Bardo] are made up of verbatim quotes from various historical sources, which I cut up and rearranged to form part of the narrative.

I tend to foster drama via bleakness. If I want the reader to feel sympathy for a character, I cleave the character in half, on his birthday. And then it starts raining. And he's made of sugar.

What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness.

What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness. Those moments when another human being was there, in front of me, suffering, and I responded . . . sensibly. Reservedly. Mildly.

Do those things that incline you toward the big questions, and avoid the things that would reduce you and make you trivial.

Developing our sympathetic compassion is not only possible but the only reason for us to be here on earth.

According to me, your life is going to be a gradual process of becoming kinder and more loving. Hurry up. Speed it along. Start right now.

It's a big world, and I really like it.

Character is that sum total of moments we can't explain.

The generalizing writer is like the passionate drunk, stumbling into your house mumbling: I know I'm not being clear, exactly, but don't you kind of feel what I'm feeling?

Kindness, it turns out, is hard - it starts out all rainbows and puppy dogs, and expands to include . . . well, EVERYTHING.

Maybe this was how you stayed sane in wartime: a handful of noble deeds amid the chaos.

Act with caution but not fear

It is a sobering thought that when Mozart was my age he had been dead for two years.

Imagination is essential and it comes first, for without imagination we are aimless.

Good character improves every aspect of a person’s life.

If you want to work for the kingdom of God, and to bring it, and enter into it, there is just one condition to be first accepted. You must enter into it as children, or not at all.

I haven't prepared as much as I would like to but it will be fun to get out there again. I have nothing left to prove in surfing but still have the desire to keep going.

The country is making a big mistake not teaching kids to cook and raise a garden and build fires.

Men who are going bald often wear baseball caps.

My life shines with God's radiant blessings when my heart is the color of joy