I think in a way the great irony or paradox about America is that it makes it so hard for the sensitive person, the artist, the impressionable person, the person whose raison d'etre is to incarnate the creative will, rather than to just make money, and yet that extreme difficulty that the culture poses for us has created some of the best artists in the last hundred years.

...and he just sat back and stared at the tube, almost interested in what was happening, trying to find the ability to believe in that lie so he could believe the one within.

The resistance and the degree of the resistance to the natural phenomenon of life causes tremendous suffering.

Life was not longer something to endure, but to live.

I have rituals for cleaning out resentments, disappointments, heartbreak, depression and for work. One of the things I do is go over old stuff if I have been unable to write for a while.

For weeks Tyrone thought he was going to die any minute, and there were also times when he was afraid he wasnt going to die.

I'm always presenting myself with problems to solve as a writer.