You have to want something or you're finished.

Teaching writing puts you on the point of a pin in terms of what you want your own writing to be.

I sometimes think that we expect too much resolution in this world.

Early in the phase of being in a female body, there's all this desire that comes at you, a lot of it hostile, a lot of it dangerous, a lot of it ruinous.

I do some messing around with things, not necessarily about me but about place and people and the things around.

I grew up flying over oceans and moving and sailing.

There's a lot of water in everything I've ever written. There's always oceans and pools.

You can sometimes find something good on the other side of doing something very, very painful.

In order to have a real life of any romance, there has to be a level of fantasy.

I don't think you can have an imagination without having fantasy, and you can't have that rich a life without an imagination.

That's what perfect means. You're finished.

I wish for you a more difficult life, somewhere in the complicated center, where the courage of your convictions blends with humility and respect for others.

In church, the rules of the lifeboat don't apply. Church is the refuge where the Kingdom of God is emulated, not mocked.

God's most lordly gift to man is decency of mind.

My wife was the first romantic partner who understood both American and native parts of me - not so much the positive stuff, but the damage.

The first myth to dispel is that Africa is not a country. It's made up of 53 different countries. So to say 'invest in Africa' is a no-go. It's meaningless.

The American political system is not good at trading sacrifice now to prevent crises later.

I can think of nothing worse than a think-tank where everybody agreed.

Prices in Italy are only slightly lower than in France, which means that Italy is a very expensive country for everyone, natives, visitors and tourists.

Soul is as necessary in a painting as body.

For one thing I tend not to see myself in various moulds that people fit me into.