Writing is the thing that props me up.

I’ve known people that the world has thrown everything at to discourage them...to break their spirit. And yet something about them retains a dignity. They face life and don’t ask quarters.

If I ever teach writing again, I’d say the first lesson is to listen.

I'm a social writer in the sense that I want to record, but not in the sense of trying to change people's minds.

When you're a writer, you have to write these stories, even if you don't get paid

I come out of a strong oral tradition in the South.

You have to watch out with my plays. They're like yeast. You think they're one thing, then all of a sudden subtext gets to working.

Resilience is rooted in habits we can cultivate and change.

A person who always finds something wrong is most likely thinking wrong.

With all it's going through, we're very proud of our country.

Poets alone are sure of immortality; they are the truest diviners of nature.

Conditioning is my best weapon.

People judge too much by results. I'm just the opposite. I care about more than results. I'd rather make a good pitch and give up a bloop single than make a bad pitch and get an out.

Mind your P's and Q's.

I often regret that I have spoken; never that I have been silent.

More precious than life is love, for there can be no life without love.

If you know only the name, you know nothing.