She was the third beer. Not the first one, which the throat receives with almost tearful gratitude; nor the second, that confirms and extends the pleasure of the first. But the third, the one you drink because it's there, because it can't hurt, and because what difference does it make?

What difference do it make if the thing you scared of is real or not?

I have a lot of respect for readers because I'm a reader. That's how I got into writing.

Oppressive language does more than represent violence; it is violence; does more than represent the limits of knowledge; it limits knowledge.

For a long time I was convinced that the conflict between Jewish people and black people in this country was a media event.

I tell my students there is such a thing as 'writer's block,' and they should respect it. You shouldn't write through it. It's blocked because it ought to be blocked, because you haven't got it right now.

The habit of getting up early, which I had formed when the children were young, now became my choice. I am not very bright or very witty or very inventive after the sun goes down.