It's only when you're alone that you realize where you are. You have nothing to fall back on except your own resources.

The man who is tired of London is tired of looking for a parking space

In countries where all the crooked politicians wear pin-striped suits, the best people are bare-assed.

What I find is that you can do almost anything or go almost anywhere, if you're not in a hurry.

Notice how many of the Olympic athletes effusively thanked their mothers for their success? “She drove me to my practice at four in the morning,” etc. Writing is not figure skating or skiing. Your mother will not make you a writer. My advice to any young person who wants to write is: leave home.

Home is always the impossible subject, multilayered and maddening.

I don't look down on tourism. I live in Hawaii where we have 7 million visitors a year. If they weren't there, there would be no economy. So I understand why a tourist economy is necessary.