Conflict is the soul of literature.

Fame means millions of people have the wrong idea of who you are.

Any system was a straightjacket if you insisted on adhering to it so totally and humorlessly.

Pregnancy seemed like a tremendous abdication of control. Something growing inside you which would eventually usurp your life.

Mediocre prose might be read as an escape, might be spoken on television by actors, or mouthed in movies. But mediocre poetry did not exist at all. If poetry wasn't good, it wasn't poetry. It was that simple.

writers do not choose their subjects; their subjects choose them.

Blocks usually stem from fear of being judged. If you imagine the world is listening, you'll never write a line.