Every accepted public quote

“The very first thing I tell my new students on the first day of a workshop is that good writing is about telling the truth. We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are. Sh...”

“We cheated fate like destiny had no say. But here we are again, meeting in the same way.”

“The parents exist to teach the child, but also they must learn what the child has to teach them; and the child has a very great deal to teach them.”

“One to be a murderer. One to be a Martyr. One to be a Monarch. One to go Mad”

“Defocus, for there lies another perspective.”

“the church should just stay out of people's pants.”

“Don't be afraid of death; be afraid of an unlived life. You don't have to live forever, you just have to live.”

“Anyone who falls in love is searching for the missing pieces of themselves. So anyone who's in love gets sad when they think of their lover. It's like stepping back inside a room you have fo...”

“To me the ego is the habitual and compulsive thought processes that go through everybody's mind continuously. External things like possessions or memories or failures or successes or achieve...”

“I felt like the only way to effectively run for office is if you had access to a lot of wealth, high social influence, a lot of dynastic power, and I knew that I didn't have any of those thi...”

“We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie.”

“To believe yourself brave is to be brave; it is the one only essential thing.”

“You are at once both the quiet and the confusion of my heart; imagine my heartbeat when you are in this state.”

“Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent.”

“The biggest threat to the Trump movement is that Republicans in office demoralize our base because the only way we win now is by driving turnout among our voters. And if our voters just thin...”

“I don't think I'm capable of writing without caffeine. And most of the time, that caffeine comes from iced tea.”

“It is sometimes an appropriate response to reality to go insane.”

“Email knocks me off my game. It's just for the morning commute and end of the day. Some might think I'm slow to respond, but those who need to reach me know to send me a text during those ho...”

“You gain courage and confidence from doing the things you think you cannot do.”

“No, I regret nothing, all I regret is having been born, dying is such a long tiresome business I always found.”

“It's okay if you don't like me. Not everyone has good taste.”

“I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I know that when we die and it comes time for God to judge us, he will not ask, 'How many good things have you done in your life?' rather...”

“I can't live in a world where there are only, like, four kinds of women. Or where every woman is obsessed with cake. The very least I ask is that we have one female character in the world wh...”

“Absurdity is what I like most in life, and there's humor in struggling in ignorance. If you saw a man repeatedly running into a wall until he was a bloody pulp, after a while it would make y...”

“But it's a journey and the sad thing is you only learn from experience, so as much as someone can tell you things, you have to go out there and make your own mistakes in order to learn.”

“Evolution is a simple concept with profound implications, especially to the social sciences. Much like a three legged stool, evolution is comprised of three forces: natural, sexual, and soci...”

“Silence is the language of Om. We need silence to be able to reach our Self. Both internal and external silence is very important to feel the presence of that supreme Love.”

“I think the measure of your success to a certain extent will be the amount of things written about you that aren't true.”

“As a woman I have no country. As a woman I want no country. As a woman, my country is the whole world.”

“Stand up for what you love rather than falling for what you fear.”

“If ever I was running, it was towards you.”

“Jesus Christ, will you quit dictating this conversation to Hannah?' I grumble. 'Bros before hos, dude.' 'Call my girlfriend a ho one more time and you won't have a bro.”

“I have ten thousand memories of myself writing alone in basements, bizarre servant quarters, cemeteries, deserted fountains, the band van, and other awkward settings.”

“All things make sense; you just have to fathom how they make sense.”

“Prayer in the sense of petition, asking for things, is a small part of it; confession and penitence are its threshold, adoration its sanctuary, the presence and vision and enjoyment of God i...”

“Elegance is inferior to virtue.”

“As we walked through the National Museum of African American History and Culture, I pushed my grandfather in a wheelchair he had reluctantly agreed to sit in. He is a proud man who also know...”

“Everything happens for a reason and, something better will come along for me!”

“When I cut the feet out of my pantyhose that one time, I saw it as my sign. I had been visualizing being self employed prior to this happening. It was my mental preparation meeting the oppor...”

“What kind of life can you have in a house without books?”

“I have spent my life judging the distance between American reality and the American dream.”

“I miss being the age when I thought I'd have my shit together by the time I was the age I am now..”

“When you see no present advantage, walk by faith and not by sight. Do God the honor to trust Him when it comes to matters of loss for the sake of principle.”

“Do not live in the shadow of the masters for ever. Learn to live in the light of your soul. Life deserves full expression.”

“No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness.”

“I just feel like if I start opening the door to talking about my university experience, then people just kind of... own everything. There was a lot of stuff a couple of years ago saying that...”

“When I learned that flour pound for pound has as many calories as sugar, and that when eating pasta you're basically eating cake, I was size 23, and my neck was restricting my breathing, and...”

“The faithful man perceives nothing less than opportunity in difficulties. Flowing through his spine, faith and courage work together: Such a man does not fear losing his life, thus he will r...”