Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.

Praise or damn as you please, but do so rather flatly, pragmatically, with cunning attention to annoying or gratifying details. Be yourself. Be unique. Be a good editor. The Universe needs more good editors, God knows.

They tell him that there is no why, since the moment simply is and since all of them are trapped in the moment, like bugs in amber.

We are what we pretend to be.

When I used to teach creative writing, I would tell the students to make their characters want something right away.

And what gift of America to the rest of the world is actually most appreciated by the rest of the world? It is African American jazz and its offshoots. What is my definition of jazz? Safe sex of the highest order.

It is almost always a mistake to mention Abraham Lincoln. He always steals the show.