I grew up in the north woods of Canada. You had to know certain things about survival. Wilderness survival courses weren't very formalized when I was growing up, but I was taught certain things about what to do if I got lost in the woods.

There is so much going on all over the world that it's impossible for one person to keep up. And I can't.

My brother and I were both teenage writers, and he was, I have to say, better than I was, but he went into science, and I went into writing.

I never have [suffered writer’s block], although I’ve had books that didn’t work out. I had to stop writing them. I just abandoned them. It was depressing, but it wasn’t the end of the world. When it really isn’t working, and you’ve been bashing yourself against the wall, it’s kind of a relief. I mean, sometimes you bash yourself against the wall and you get through it. But sometimes the wall is just a wall. There’s nothing to be done but go somewhere else.

It's only afterwards that it becomes anything like a story at all. When you're telling it, to yourself or to someone else.

Winning intoxicates you, and numbs you to the sufferings of others.

The best way of being kind to bears is not to be very close to them.