"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."
"All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was."
"Writing is really a way of thinking--not just feeling but thinking about things that are disparate, unresolved, mysterious, problematic or just sweet."
"If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it."
"Birth, life, and death― each took place on the hidden side of a leaf."
"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."