Whole swaths of the book [Lincoln in the Bardo] are made up of verbatim quotes from various historical sources, which I cut up and rearranged to form part of the narrative.

If you could press a button and your ego investment was less, the toothache would be less. Or less tragic at least.

And I have finally realized that, you know, it's not a given that my lifespan will accommodate my writing aspirations. It could be that it would take me 12 more books at six years each to get it - which means I would have to live to be 126. Which I fully intend to do, of course.

I came to writing kind of late. I was an engineer, and the one thing I've learned is that you have to steer a project in the direction of the maximum fun for you. You could say lively energy, or you have to try to be intrigued. Basically, if you were a musician and you were playing joylessly, nobody would want to hear you.

I read to make myself feel awake.

I'm always nice when I do drugs. But, you know, I'm nicer on the drug called "writing."

I think if someone could demonstrate to me that fiction did no good, I would still do it, because I think it does good for me.