What we seek is some kind of compensation for what we put up with.

There has to be pain. That's the rule.

This place is too calm, too natural--too complete. I don't deserve it. At least not yet.

People sometimes sneer at those who run every day, claiming they'll go to any length to live longer. But don't think that's the reason most people run. Most runners run not because they want to live longer, but because they want to live life to the fullest.

I think history is collective memories. In writing, I'm using my own memory, and I'm using my collective memory.

All right, then, I thought: here I am in the bottom of a well.

Don't you think it would be wonderful to get rid of everything and everybody and just go some place where you don't know a soul?