Things in life have no real beginning, though our stories about them always do.

One small cloud, cast out by the herd, limps away to the west.

You cannot read any image of the World Trade Center without thinking of 9/11.

I don't know of a greater privilege than being allowed to tell a story, or to listen to a story. They're the only thing we have that can trump life itself.

Goodness was more difficult than evil. Evil men knew that more than good men. That's why they became evil. That's why it stuck with them. Evil was for those who could never reach the truth. It was a mask for stupidity and lack of love. Even if people laughed at the notion of goodness, if they found it sentimental, or nostalgic, it didn't matter -- it was none of those things, he said, and it had to be fought for.

Ultimately, you can only ever write what you know. It's logically and philosophically impossible to write what you don't know.

The real beauty in life is that beauty can sometimes occur.