The responsibility of the artist is to transcend the human ego.

I knew the alphabet. Maybe I could be a writer.

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.

...and the night was comfortably warm as the soft filtered light continued to push the darkness into the shadows as they held each other and kissed and pushed each others darkness into the corner, believing in each others light, each others dream.

I don't know that I could really define love. I can't . . . again, it's like trying to define what this creative force is. It's beyond my ability to really define. If I can define it, then it's not it. We're right back to that thing again.

... I started to die 36 hours before I was born, so dying was a way of life for me.

I've always felt alienated. I realized that I've been terrified my entire life. So I can identify that fear which drives so many of the people that I write about.