In the middle of the world, make one positive step. In the center of chaos, make one definitive act. Just write.

In the past few years I've assigned books to be read before a student attends one of my weeklong seminars. I have been astonished by how few people -- people who supposedly want to write -- read books, and if they read them, how little they examine them.

I'm never ashamed to read a book twice or as many times as I want. We never expect to drink a glass of water just once in our lives. A book can be that essential, too.

Katagiri Roshi says: "Poor artists. They suffer very much. They finish a masterpiece and they are not satisfied. They want to go on and do another." Yes, but it's better to go on and do another if you have the urge than to start drinking and become alcoholic or eat a pound of good fudge and get fat.

If you are not afraid of the voices inside you, you will not fear the critics outside you.

I still write with pen and paper and have someone type it on a computer. But rewriting I do by hand.

You don't need to go to a therapist, you don't need to do all kinds of things. If you want to write, you physically have to do it.