Mom had the kind of love for her that you could feel, like it was part of the atmosphere

To get where you want to go, you can't only do what you like.

What do you get out of hating people, out of having this bitterness in your heart always?

You don't have to be a good person to be a good writer--history shows it's better if you're not--but you have to understand your badness.

Many have changed so much that they have lost the magic of the dream that carried them on their own bootstraps.

To get from people you had to give a piece of yourself, a real piece that mattered. Just being nice was not enough.

Mom had the kind of love for her that you could feel, like it was part of the atmosphere