"1492. As children we were taught to memorize this year with pride and joy as the year people began living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America. Actually, people had been living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America for hundreds of years before that. 1492 was simply the year sea pirates began to rob, cheat, and kill them."
"When we passed a Catholic church, I recalled, he said, "You think your dad's a good chemist? They're turning soda crackers into meat in there. Can your dad do that?"
"When I write, I feel like an armless, legless man with a crayon in his mouth."
"The last thing I ever wanted was to be alive when the three most powerful people on the whole planet would be named Bush, Dick and Colon."
"Talent is extremely common. What is rare is the willingness to endure the life of the writer."
"To be is to do - SocratesTo do is to be - SartreDo Be Do Be Do - Sinatra"