And, selfish and scared, I wonder how much more he has to give.

I already killed you once today, what does it take to teach some people?

Even the proudest spirit can be broken with love.

With American Gods I was trying very, very consciously - there was a level at which it was a little like trying to write a novel in French - you know, "this novel is to be written in American."

When you say words a lot they don't mean anything. Or maybe they don't mean anything anyway, and we just think they do.

I wondered, as I wondered so often when I was that age, who I was, and what exactly was looking at the face in the mirror. If the face I was looking at wasn't me, and I knew it wasn't, because I would still be me whatever happened to my face, then what was me? And what was watching?

Because, if one is writing novels today, concentrating on the beauty of the prose is right up there with concentrating on your semi-colons, for wasted effort.