There were moments when I felt seriously unhinged; when I was convinced that I would never, ever recover from what had happened, when it was absolutely clear to me that life from this point on would be constant agony.

All our stories are simultaneously unique and desperately similar, aren't they?

Tragedy is one of the larger prices we pay for being alive. No one ever sidesteps tragedy. It is always there, shadowing us.

Words matter, words have import.

There were moments when I felt seriously unhinged; when I was convinced that I would never, ever recover from what had happened, when it was absolutely clear to me that life from this point on would be constant agony.

There is much to be said for solitude.

Success is a very fragile veneer. I get wary of people who embrace celebrity. It ruins people.