What you are will show, ultimately. Start now, every day, becoming, in your actions, your regular actions, what you would like to become in the bigger scheme of things.

Identity is an assemblage of constellations.

I have a lot of optimism about new doctors because I think it's really clear that it's a lot of hard work and no guarantee of a lot of money.

I think some of our most talented people are not going to pick the arts as a way that they're going to spend their lives.

I mean, I think a healthy country is a country where people are healthy physically, and a smart country is a country where people are educated.

Some people study a text very deeply. The people are my text. I study their words and what their words sound like, over and over again. When I was a kid, my grandfather said that "if you say a word often enough, it becomes you." Thinking of that later in life gave me this idea that I could try to become America by learning the words of people from many aspects of the country. It doesn't matter how educated they are. By living in the world and living their experiences, they bring extraordinary truths. I try to do those truths justice.

I am interested in personal stories because that's when people become expressive, spontaneous and heartfelt.