“Thinking is learning all over again how to see, directing one's consciousness, making of every image a privileged place.”

“It was something every child knew how to do, maintain a direct and full connection with the world. Somehow you forgot about it as you grew up, and had to learn it again.”

“Write in pictures. With your words, let the reader see not letters, but images. Be specific about every detail, but don't describe it--make it happen on the page, if you were writing fiction, or make it happen over again, if you were writing about history or some recent event.”

“Those days are over. I have to be won all over again every time you see me.”

“People have obsessions and fears and passions which they don't admit to. I think every character is interesting and has extremes. It's the novelist privilege to see how odd everyone is.”

“In the field, one quickly learns that everything that was funny at age ten is funny all over again.”