Prowling the meanings of a word, prowling the history of a person, no use expecting a flood of light. Human words have no main switch. But all those little kidnaps in the dark. And then the luminous, big, shivering, discandied, unrepentant, barking web of them that hangs in your mind when you turn back to the page you were trying to translate.

When I began to be published, people got the idea that I should 'teach writing,' which I have no idea how to do and don't really believe in.

Reality is a sound, you have to tune in to it not just keep yelling.

I am kind of a curmudgeonly person, so I don't gravitate to groups or traditions, which is probably just pretentious of me.

You remember too much," my mother said to me recently. "Why hold onto all that?" And I said, "where can I put it down?

Existence will not stop until it gets to beauty.

Everything depends on liking the people and trusting the people. You have to assume that whatever they do will be as good as you want the thing to be and just go ahead with that.