Stay away from the ones you love too much. Those are the ones who will kill you.

On the other hand, I mean, that is what writers have always been supposed to do, was to rely on their own devices and to - I mean, writing is a lonely business.

Clearly something had gone wrong, badly, only I wasn't quite sure what—apart from knowing that I was responsible somehow, in the generalized miasma of shame and unworthiness and being-a-burden that never quite left me.

I'd rather write one good book than ten mediocre ones.

Love doesn't conquer everything. And whoever thinks it does is a fool.

A great sorrow, and one that I am only beginning to understand: we don’t get to choose our own hearts. We can’t make ourselves want what’s good for us or what’s good for other people. We don’t get to choose the people we are.

As much fun as it is to read a book, writing a book is one level deeper than that.