I like the freedom that comes with lowered expectations.

My wife and daughter have accused me of being too silent at breakfast but I don't want to talk when I don't have much to say.

The essay must be artistically rendered: You must keep the reader engaged, whether with wit, conflict, mischief, and/or yes, with honesty.

Have fun writing, because it enhances both the writer's and reader's experience.

... I vowed that I would always respect the right of an individual to kill himself. Whether suicide was a moral or immoral act I no longer felt sure, but of the dignity of its intransigence I was convinced.

In the best nonfiction, it seems to me, you're always made aware that you are being engaged with a supple mind at work. The story line or plot in nonfiction consists of the twists and turns of a thought process working itself out.

For most of my life, I have wanted broad impact but now, at 72, I'm not so sure that's always my first priority.