People who've had happy childhoods are wonderful, but they're bland... An unhappy childhood compels you to use your imagination to create a world in which you can be happy. Use your old grief. That's the gift you're given.

It is a truth of human nature that we can ponder life's mysteries for only so long before we lose interest and move on to something else.

You write one book and you're ready for fame and fortune. I don't know that people are spending the time and attention on learning how to write-which takes years. Everybody sees the success stories.

I've never known anyone yet who doesn't suffer a certain restlessness when autumn rolls around... We're all eight years old again and anything is possible.

There's a certain class of people who will do you in and then remain completely mystified by the depth of your pain.

Ghosts don't haunt us. That's not how it works. They're present among us because we won't let go of them.

Pay minimum wage, you get minimum work. Nobody seems to get that.