Never be ashamed of your subject, and of your passion for your subject.

For what is delusion but the prelude to hurt. And what is hurt but the prelude to rage.

while there are 'women writers' there are not, and have never been, 'men writers.' This is an empty category, a class without specimens; for the noun 'writer' - the very verb 'writing' - always implies masculinity.

The danger of motherhood. you relive your early self, through the eyes of your mother.

But he doesn't love her. I invented that. It is a plot if you imagine people in love--the lazy looping criss crosses of love, blows, stares, tears. No. It doesn't happen. No love. People meet, touch, stare into one another's faces, shake their heads clear, move on, forget. It doesn't happen.

Not even the most devastating truth can be told; it must be evoked.

Like most people, I can be very easily hurt.