There were times . . . when it occurred to me that I was repeating my mother's life. Usually this thought struck me as funny. But if I happened to be tired, or if there were extra bills to pay and no money to pay them with, it seemed awful. I'd think 'This isn't the way our lives are supposed to be going.' Then I'd think 'Half the world has the same idea.

I've given up thinking - it keeps getting me into trouble.

Sooner or later everything you thought you'd left behind comes around again. For good or ill, it comes around again.

Lovecraft opened the way for me, as he had done for others before me

I don't want you to apologize for being rich; I want you to acknowledge that in America, we all should have to pay our fair share.

A lot of fairy tales are thinly disguised hostility raps against parents. Kids know that they can't make it on their own, that if they were left alone, they would die.

But it's writing, damn it, not washing the car or putting on eyeliner. If you can take it seriously, we can do business. If you can't or won't, it's time for you to close the book and do something else. Wash the car, maybe.