I've come to believe that there exists in the universe something I call The Physics of The Quest — a force of nature governed by laws as real as the laws of gravity or momentum. And the rule of Quest...
I'm making space for the unknown future to fill up my life with yet to come surprises.
I will give you the sun and the rain, and if they are not available, I will give you a sun check and a rain check.
I used to think the 109th bead was an emergency spare. Like the extra button on a fancy sweater, or the youngest son in a royal family.
I think that the difference between a tormented creative life and a tranquil creative life is nothing more than the difference between the word awful and the word interesting.
I tell you, Becker, Henry said, if you make me eat mutton one more night this week, I will have someone shot.He doesn't really have people shot, Alma reassured Mr. Pike, under her breath.I had figured...
I recently read a fabulous blog by a writer named Mark Manson, who said that the secret to finding your purpose in life is to answer this question in total honesty: What's your favorite flavor of shit...
I pause here for a moment to explain exactly what I mean when I say that word, just so people can decide right away how offended they need to get.
I happen to believe we are all walking repositories of buried treasure. I believe this is one of the oldest and most generous tricks the universe plays on us human beings, both for its own amusement a...
I had creativity within me that was original; I had a personality within me that was original; I had dreams and perspectives and aspirations within me that were original.
I got letters saying, I detest everything about you, and I got letters saying, You have written my bible. Imagine if I’d tried to create a definition of myself based on any of these reactions. I didn’...
I felt a glimmer of happiness when I started studying Italian, and when you sense a faint potentiality for happiness after such dark times you must grab onto the ankles of that happiness and not let g...
I don't know what I think until I write about it (Joan Didion).
I cannot unshackle myself from argument, Ambrose. Recall that I am Henry Whittaker's daughter. I was born into argument. Argument was my first nursemaid. Argument is my lifelong bedfellow. What's more...
I can only be in charge of producing the work itself. That’s a hard enough job. I refuse to take on additional jobs, such as trying to police what anybody thinks about my work once it leaves my desk.
I can cope with, and even somehow enjoy, the sinking melancholy of Venice, just for a few days. Somewhere in me I am able to recognize that this is not my melancholy; this is the city's own indigenous...
I believe we are all transient, she began. She thought for awhile and added, I believe that we are half-blind and full of errors. I believe that we understand very little, and what we do understand is...
I believe that enjoying your work with all your heart is the only truly subversive position left to take as a creative person these days. It’s such a gangster move, because hardly anybody ever dares t...
I always hated hearing old people yammering on like this when I was young. And I do what to assure you: I'm aware that many thing were not better in the 1940s. Underarm deodorants and air-conditioning...
I alwaysthought we only had two choices in our lives when it came to pizza crust—thin and crispy, orthick and doughy. How was I to have known there could be a crust in this world that was thinand doug...