Language, she said, was just our way to explain away the wonder and glory of the world. To deconstruct. To dismiss. She said people can't deal with how beautiful the world really is. How it can't be explained and understood.

This is less teaching than damage control. You may as well paint a house that’s on fire.

When you go out with a drunk, you’ll notice how a drunk fills your glass so he can empty his own. As long as you’re drinking, drinking is okay. Two’s company. Drinking is fun. If there’s a bottle, even if your glass isn’t empty, a drunk, he’ll pour a little in your glass before he fills his own. This only looks like generosity.

These stories are ghosts, bringing people back from the dead. Just for a moment. For a visit. Every story is a ghost.

You're safe because you're so trapped inside your culture. Anything you can conceive of is fine because you can conceive of it.

If you're not drunk and half naked by this point, you're not paying attention.

The difference between how you look and how you see yourself is enough to kill most people. And maybe the reason vampires don’t die is because they can never see themselves in photographs or mirrors.