So," he asked. "How's death?" "Hard," she said. "It just keeps going.

Sometimes an old idea gets relegated to the back of the line in the mad delight of a new idea, one you've never had before, and that you write fast in the thrill of the new. No rules. Just stories, and you tell as many of them as you can.

I do not permit affection or lack thereof to influence my actions. There is good, and there is evil. The good must be protected, the evil eradicated. I have shown you the triumph of evil as a caution.

In the case of 'Ocean at the End of the Lane,' it's a book about helplessness. It's a book about family, it's a book about being 7 in a world of people who are bigger than you, and more dangerous, and stepping into territory that you don't entirely understand.

I lost some time once. It's always in the last place you look for it.

Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.

You're always you, and that don't change, and you're always changing, and there's nothing you can do about it.