You most likely need a thesaurus, a rudimentary grammar book, and a grip on reality. This latter means: there's no free lunch. Writing is work. It's also gambling. You don't get a pension plan. Other people can help you a bit, but ­essentially you're on your own. Nobody is making you do this: you chose it, so don't whine.

Foreignness is all around. Only in the heart of the heart of the country, namely the heart of the United States, can you avoid such a thing. In the center of an empire, you can think of your experience as universal. Outside the empire or on the fringes of the empire, you cannot.

She had no images of this love. She could offer no anecdotes. It was a belief rather than a memory.

A divorce is like an amputation: you survive it, but there's less of you.

I don't think it's a question of whether you eat meat. It's a question of what kind of meat, and where it comes from.

Wars happen because the ones who start them think they can win.

Touch comes before sight, before speech. It is the first language and the last, and it always tells the truth.