Few of us can easily surrender our belief that society must somehow make sense. The thought that the State has lost its mind and is punishing so many innocent people is intolerable. And so the evidence has to be internally denied.

The camera has its own kind of consciousness; in the lens the Garden of Eden itself would become ever so slightly too perfect.

The jungle is dark but full of diamonds, Willy.

Chris: I don't know why it is, but every time I reach out for something I want, I have to pull back because other people will suffer.

There is a misconception of tragedy with which I have been struck in review after review, and in many conversations with writers and readers alike. It is the idea that tragedy is of necessity allied to pessimism.

A doctor could make a million dollars if he could figure out a way to bring a boy into the world without a trigger finger.

Few occasions are as joyous to small children as funerals, almost better than the big wedding blowouts that take place at night when it's hard to stay awake. A small boy will never be harshly criticized at a funeral; he is more treasured as death comes close and all his wickedness vanishes before the inescapable fact that thank God, he is healthy.