I cannot write any sort of story unless there is at least one character in it for whom I have physical desire.

All good art is an indiscretion.

Kill off all my demons and my angels might die too.

When so many are lonely as seem to be lonely, it would be inexcusably selfish to be lonely alone.

And so tonight we're going to make the lie true, and when that's done, I'll bring the liquor back here and we'll get drunk together, here, tonight, in this place that death has come into...

Make this decision today. Will you be a good and honest writer, or would you rather be famous, loved, noticed? Tell me, because there are different paths for these two divergent goals. The decision to be a true artist is lonelier and slower, but it will lead to better work and, I think, a better life. Very rarely you will be a good and honest writer and also know a little comfort and some attention and the well wishes of a crowd. This is very rare.

The Venus flytrap, a devouring organism, aptly named for the goddess of love.