“In my heart, I am American, and I believe I have a free will and can take charge of my own destiny.”

“Do all kids have to worry about their parents mental health? The way society is set up, parents are supposed to be the grown-up ones and look after the kids, but a lot of times its the other way ar...”

“True freedom comes from being unknown.”

“She missed the built environment of New York City. It was only in an urban landscape, amid straight lines and architecture, that she could situate herself in human time and history. She missed peop...”

“There's so much to write. Where should I start?I texted my old Jiko this question, and she wrote me back this:'You should start where you are”

“In your diary, you quoted old Jiko saying something about not-knowing, how not-knowing is the most intimate way, or did I just dream that?Anyway, I've been thinking about this a lot, and I think ma...”

“Sometimes two people have to fall apart, to realize how much they need to fall back together.”

“Good literature is one key to peace. When we stop reading each other, when we stop paying attention to each other's words and stories, we too easily oppose one another.”

“There is only one motive for writing a novel: to be published and read. To me there is no distinction between the mystery novel and the novel, only between good books and bad books. A good book tak...”

“And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”

“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.”

“The road to hell is paved with adverbs.”