Don't worry about being worried. You're heading out on an adventure and you can always change your mind along the way and try something else.

I think if the writing comes too easily, it shows - it's usually hard to read.

I usually write about ordinary people and ordinary things, but Paul Farmer is the least ordinary person I've ever met... He's the leader of a small group of people who hope to cure a sick world, and I hope my book can help in some small way.

I wrote a novel about the combat experiences I didn't have in Vietnam.

I've gotta keep life and computers separate, or else I'm gonna go mad.

You do the right thing even if it makes you feel bad. The purpose of life is not to be happy but to be worthy of happiness.

And I can imagine Farmer saying he doesn't care if no one else is willing to follow their example. He's still going to make these hikes, he'd insist, because if you say that seven hours is too long to walk for two families of patients, you're saying that their lives matter less than some others', and the idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that's wrong with the world.