Laughter is the key that grace has arrived.

I loved every second of Catholic church. I loved the sickly sweet rotting-pomegranate smells of the incense. I loved the overwrought altar, the birdbath of holy water, the votive candles; I loved that there was a poor box, the stations of the cross rendered in stained glass on the windows.

Some people seem to understand this - that life and change take time - but I am not one of those people.

We all know we're going to die; what's important is the kind of men and women we are in the face of this.

You can get the monkey off your back, but the circus never leaves town

I've always thought I could use my brain and my heart to jockey everyone around to the good. But life is not jockeyable. When you try, you make people infinitely crazier than they already were, including or especially yourself.

We must not inflict life on children who will be resented; we must not inflict unwanted children on society.