Not what the mind sees, but what the mind imagines the eye must see.

I did not consider that I would lead a literary life. I'd thought initially, as a young girl, that I would be a teacher, since I so admired many of my teachers. And though I loved writing, I did not ever think of myself as a writer.

Boxing has become America's tragic theater.

Love is an indescribable sensation - perhaps a conviction, a sense of certitude.

The body can't distinguish between cleansing and punishing for the body is ignorant, and mute besides.

Truths are the last thing you learn about your family. By the time you learn, you're no longer their child.

I have forced myself to begin writing when I've been utterly exhausted, when I've felt my soul as thin as a playing card…and somehow the activity of writing changes everything.