I also thought of playing improvisational jazz and I did take lessons for a while. At first I tried to write fiction by making up things that were completely alien to my life.

God, life changes faster than you think.

It's both rebellion and conformity that attack you with success.

I saw my mother in a different light. We all need to do that. You have to be displaced from what's comfortable and routine, and then you get to see things with fresh eyes, with new eyes.

You can't have intentions without consequences. The question is, who pays for the consequences? Saving fish from drowning. Same thing. Who’s saved? Who’s not?

And below the heimongmong, all along the ground, were weeds already spilling out over the edges, running wild in every direction.

There are a lot of people who think that's what's needed to be successful is always being right, always being careful, always picking the right path.