If we forget our past, we won't remember our future and it will be as well because we won't have one.

He loved her because it was his nature to do so, but there were times when he could not endure her love for him. There were times when it became nothing but pure idiot mystery.

I have found, in short, from reading my own writing, that my subject in fiction is the action of grace in territory largely held by the devil.

A story is a way to say something that can’t be said any other way, and it takes every word in the story to say what the meaning is.

If you're a Catholic you believe what the Church teaches and the climate makes no difference.

I have found, in short, from reading my own writing, that my subject in fiction is the action of grace in territory largely held by the devil. I have also found that what I write is read by an audience which puts little stock either in grace or the devil. You discover your audience at the same time and in the same way that you discover your subject, but it is an added blow.

All my stories are about the action of grace on a character who is not very willing to support it, but most people think of these stories as hard, hopeless and brutal.