The history of race relations in America is very different than something like the Holocaust.

No matter how happy I had been in the past I do not long for it. The present is always the moment for which I love.

The inevitable is no less a shock just because it is inevitable.

Another thing I like to say to my students is this: "How many Corinthians read Paul's letters?" The answer is none. They couldn't have cared less! There aren't even any Corinthians left, but Paul's letters persist. Paul was not a professional writer. He was called to something, and he sent his letters. That's a good way to look at it. That you might be making something that nobody cares about, but you have to do it. It's not that people should care, but that you should care.

I was then at the height of my two-facedness: that is, outside I seemed one way, inside I was another; outside false, inside true.

When I'm writing, I think about the garden, and when I'm in the garden I think about writing. I do a lot of writing by putting something in the ground.

People don't make changes because things are wonderful.