Somebody has been a complete ratbag all their life and they've gotten away with it, and they die happy and rich, we so much want to believe that they're going off to the halls of judgment, that their heart will be weighed against the feather of truth, that it will be heavy with sin and it will be eaten by a crocodile. It's almost essential to our well-being to have a fallback position like that. It may appear as if you've gotten away with it, but you'll pay for it later.

a handful of crumpled stars

You need a certain amount of nerve to be a writer.

Some travelers think they want to go to foreign places but are dismayed when the places turn out actually to be foreign.

It's clear, it's fresh, like a mint candy.

Some bioengineering is good, especially if it results in plants that are more drought-resistant or perennial food crops.

You can wipe your feet on me, twist my motives around all you like, you can dump millstones on my head and drown me in the river, but you can’t get me out of the story. I’m the plot, babe, and don’t ever forget it.