When they give you things, ask yourself why. When you're grateful to them for giving you the things you should have anyway, ask yourself why.

Nothing that lived and breathed was truly objective—even in a vacuum, even if all that possessed the brain was a self-immolating desire for the truth.

The map had been the first form of misdirection, for what is a map but a way of emphasizing some things and making other things invisible?

My mother is an artist, and I have a strong visual sense. I almost always choose the cover art for my books. I've learned that the more I collaborate, like by having someone do a soundtrack to one of my books, the more I see my own work differently.

History has shown us all too often the consequences of dreaming poorly or not at all.

But what if you discover that the price of purpose is to render invisible so many other things?

I always try to be alert to the potential for repetition, for a decaying orbit with regard to my use of technique, etc.