Isn't it our job to be appalled by our parents? Isn't it every generation's duty to be dismayed by the previous generation? And to assert that we are different - only to discover later that we are distressingly the same?

But we should ask the question: Why should a writer be more than a writer? Why should a writer be a guru? Why are we supposed to be psychiatrists? Isn't it enough to write and tell the truth? It's not like telling the truth is common. Writers are the earthworms of society. We aerate the soil. That's enough.

I think I've become more cynical about sex. Meaning, I don't think sex in and of itself leads to an epiphany.

Solitude is considered un-American.

Love is everything it's cracked up to be. It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for.

Murky language means someone wants to pick your pocket.

Poetry is fired by love.