Good writing ... involves the agony of turning profoundly difficult thoughts into lucid form, then forcing them into the tight-fitting uniform of language, making them visible and clear.

Families without songs are unhappy families.

He was one of those rare men who are capable of being fully in love only once in their lives.

Basketball allowed me to revere my father without him knowing what I was up to. I took up basketball as a form of homage and mimicry.

The fruit tasted foreign but indigenous, like sunlight a tree had changed through patience.

Good writing is the hardest form of thinking.

Good writing ... involves the agony of turning profoundly difficult thoughts into lucid form, then forcing them into the tight-fitting uniform of language, making them visible and clear.