Our relationship to the environment matters, our relationship to animals matters, and our relationship to culture matters.

The only thing more painful than being an active forgetter is to be an inert rememberer.

I brought the birdcages to the windows. I opened the windows, and opened the birdcages. I poured the fish down the drain. I took the dogs and cats downstairs and removed their collars. I released the insects onto the street. And the reptiles. And the mice. I told them, Go. All of you. Go. And they went. And they didn’t come back

I think it's a greater risk not to write about 9\11. If you're in my position - a New Yorker who felt the event very deeply and a writer who wants to write about things he feels deeply about - I think it's risky to avoid what's right in front of you.

I've never particularly liked bankers.

If god exists, he is not to be believed in.

Everything is the way it is because everything was the way it was