All paradises, all utopias are designed by who is not there,... - Toni Morrison

"Writing is really a way of thinking--not just feeling but thinking about things that are disparate, unresolved, mysterious, problematic or just sweet."

"What I think the political correctness debate is really about is the power to be able to define. The definers want the power to name. And the defined are now taking that power away from them."

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

"All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was."

"I'm interested in the way in which the past affects the present and I think that if we understand a good deal more about history, we automatically understand a great more about contemporary life."