Tragedy isn't an easy thing to kill. It takes more than a turtle. Tragedy must be destroyed by someone willing to be swallowed by it, willing to be broken, torn out of the flesh, but able to return to it. Someone must be able to shatter the tragic from within and exit into comedy, able to rip a hole so wide that a train of souls, a parade, could follow after, banging drums and throwing candy as they strolled into the sun.

In the Darwinian world, self-preservation is the ultimate shiny good.

Spring is worth the wait. Life is worth the death.

Stories are like catechisms, but they're catechisms for your impulses, they're catechisms with flesh on.

Stealing ideas from contemporaries is rude and tasteless. Stealing from the long dead is considered literary and admirable. The same is true of grave-robbing. Loot your local cemetery and find yourself mired in social awkwardness. But unearth the tomb of an ancient king and you can feel free to pop off his toe rings. You'll probably end up on a book tour, or bagging an honorary degree or two.

That wasn't me. I'm not a morning person. There's another person inside of me that does all the morning things.

Hold your tongue if you'd like to keep it." - Jaques