That the world was silent and cold and bare and that in this lay its terrible beauty

I'm not an urban person.

The strange thing was, he wanted to like everyone. He just couldn't find a way to do it.

You should learn to say nothing that will cause you regret. You should not say what is not in your heart - or what is only in your heart for a moment. But you know this - silence is better.

Writers shouldn’t underestimate the difficulty of what they’re doing, and they should treat it with great seriousness. You’re doing something that really matters, you’re telling stories that have an impact on other people and on the culture. You should tell the best stories you can possibly tell and put everything you’ve got into it.

How could they say that they truly loved each other? They had simply grown up together, been children together, and the proximity of it, the closeness of it, had produced in them love s illusion. And yet - on the other hand - what was love if it wasn't this instinct she felt.

At one level you're condemned to the voice you have. But within those confines, you have a certain amount of freedom to range among your possible voices.