We fall from womb to tomb, from one blackness and toward another, remembering little of the one and knowing nothing of the other ... except through faith.

The idea that America exists in a culture of violence is bullshit. What America exists in is a culture of Kardashian.

Pray for rain all you like, but dig a well as you do it.

Love isn't soft, like the poets say. Love has teeth which bite and the wounds never close.

The rope by which the great blocks of taxes are attached to any citizenry is simple loyalty.

Small towns harbor small imaginations.

Kindle, isn’t it?” the waitress asked. “I got one for Christmas, and I love it. I’m reading my way through all of Jodi Picoult’s books.” “Oh, probably not all of them,” Wesley said. “Huh? Why not?” “She’s probably got another one done already. That’s all I meant.” “And James Patterson’s probably written one since he got up this morning!” she said, and went off chortling.