“There isn't an end point to excellence where you have it and you can stop. Being your best self means keeping on trying.”

“If you love books enough, books will love you back.”

“If I were omnipotent and omnibenevolent I wouldn't be so damn ineffable.”

“I care more about the people in books than the people I see every day.”

“I am reading The Lord of the Rings. I suddenly wanted to. I almost know it by heart, but I can still sink right into it. I know no other book that is so much like going on a journey. When I...”

“The thing about Tolkien, about The Lord of the Rings, is that it's perfect. It's this whole world, this whole process of immersion, this journey. It's not, I'm pretty sure, actually true, bu...”

“I had said that Le Guin's worlds were real because her people were so real, and he said yes, but the people were so real because they were the people the worlds would have produced. If you p...”