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

If you have a friend, what's the best way you can experience her beauty? It's to really accept her. She's weird in this way, I accept it. She's hard to talk to, I accept it. Then that person eventually will come all the way out into the sun. I think it's the same way with our talent. We say, "Look, I'm not going to judge you. I'm going to try to use you in the very best way."

Stay alert. The big moral crossroads in your life may not come labeled as such.

I remember reading The Bluest Eye when I was a young parent, and something opened in me. That's the highest aspiration.

What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness. Those moments when another human being was there, in front of me, suffering, and I responded . . . sensibly. Reservedly. Mildly.

What evil does first in the world, maybe, is distract us from our pursuit of goodness.

It is very easy for us to go, you know, "I am being cruel to be kind," when really we are just ... being cruel. Because it makes us feel big, or whatever.