Here at this far lost end of the continent, where the trail wagons had stopped and the people with them.

There must be something in books, something we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing.

Jump, and you will find out how to unfold your wings as you fall.

You've got to jump off cliffs and build your wings on the way down.

I think the reason my stories have been so successful is that I have a strong sense of metaphor.

The reason I shift gears constantly, why I'm doing an opera, why I've done essays, why I've written poetry for years that nobody wanted, why I do short stories and novels and screenplays... is so I will have new ways of failing. This means becoming a student again.

I don't believe in being serious about anything. I think life is too serious to be taken seriously.