...water laughing softly down a black stone wall.

I was a stepchild in two different families. The hardest thing about being a stepchild is you know that in some way everything would be easier if you didnt exist.

If I had a view like this to look down on every day, I would have the energy and inspiration to conquer the world. The trouble is, when you most need such a view, no one gives it to you.

Read at the level at which you want to write. Reading is the nourishment that feeds the kind of writing you want to do.

Goon Squad' took about three years to write and that's the short end. My second novel, 'Look at Me,' took six years.

I don’t want to fade away, I want to flame away - I want my death to be an attraction, a spectacle, a mystery. A work of art.

Because you can't write habitually and well all the time, you have to be willing to write badly. That's how you get the regularity that enables you to be present for the good stuff.

Reading is the nourishment that lets you do interesting work.

I'm always happy," Sasha said. "Sometimes I just forget.

The answers were maddeningly absent—it was like trying to remember a song that you knew made you feel a certain way, without a title, artist, or even a few bars to bring it back.

Vinegar: that's what fear smells like.

A good marriage is one which allows for change and growth in the individuals and in the way they express their love.

Instead of narrowing our allegiances to only include our favored nation, let us sing an anthem to the marvelous human being.

Back then, Lisa Lisa was somebody that I liked. She was Puerto Rican, and I related to her somewhat. I was a little bit of a fan.

I naturally prefer the company of people who hold grudges, as long as they are not held against me.

The stream of praying cannot rise higher than the fountain of living.

I personally can't think of anything less sacrosanct than a bad book or even a mediocre book.

You always hear people say that having kids changes everything, but you can't fully realize it until you have children yourself.

It excites me when a person puts their whole self in a song or rhyme, or instrument. It fills me.

How long it takes us, each day, to know each other.

you will never catch up. Walk around feeling like a leaf know you could tumble at any second. Then decide what to do with your time. --The Art of Disappearing