When things go wrong, this is what you should do. Make good art.

Do you know why I stopped being Delight, my brother? I do. There are things not in your book. There are paths outside this garden.

There are so many fragile things, after all. People break so easily, and so do dreams and hearts.

A philosopher once asked, "Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?" Pointless, really..."Do the stars gaze back?" Now that's a question.

As a teenager I wrote to R.A. Lafferty. And he responded, too, with letters that were like R.A. Lafferty short stories, filled with elliptical answers to straight questions and simple answers to complicated ones.

Have you ever had one of those days when something just seems to be trying to tell you somebody?

You can't just boss bacteria around like that," said the younger Mrs. Hempstock. "They don't like it." "Stuff and silliness," said the old lady. "You leave wigglers alone and they'll be carrying on like anything. Show them who's boss and they can't do enough for you. You've tasted my cheese.