One curiosity of being a foreigner everywhere is that one finds oneself discerning Edens where the locals see only Purgatory.

...home lies in the things you carry with you everywhere and not the ones that tie you down.

Suffering is a privilege. It moves us toward thinking of essential things and shakes us out of complacency. Calamity cracks you open, moves you to change your ways.

Everyone is a Wordsworth in certain moods, and every traveler seeks out places that every traveler has missed.

What is fascinating about a place like Los Angeles airport is that it is lots and lots of people, many of whom have saved up all their lives and channeled all of their energies toward coming to the promised land of abundance and plenty - the American Dream. But as soon as they arrive here they get a crash course in the American reality.

The less conscious one is of being a writer, the better the writing.

The beauty of being foreign is that it snaps you awake.