Men are competent in groups that mimic the playground, incompetent in groups that mimic the family

In his 30 years of broadcasting and publishing fiction, Garrison Keillor has set the laugh bar pretty high.

One of the things that Ivar knew about Mrs. Walker was that she would only tell him what she knew if he asked the right question, so he spent a portion of his time meditating over what he might ask Mrs. Walker and how he might phrase the question.

Every first draft is perfect, because all a first draft has to do is exist.

it still astounds me, after forty years, that there is no good bread between Chicago and San Francisco.

Many said that now there was no hope of salvation, for a man might do anything and be in the wrong. There was no way to tell. It was better to stay on the steading and mind the cows and be content with such days as are left to one and cease to wonder about life everlasting.

Respect and fear are two different things.