“God can't clean the house of you when you're still in it.”

“But you can't teach writing, people tell me. And I say, 'Who the hell are you, God's dean of admissions?”

“Perfectionism means that you try desperately not to leave so much mess to clean up. But clutter and mess show us that life is being lived. Clutter is wonderfully fertile ground - you can still discover new treasures under all those piles, clean things up, edit things out, fix things, get a grip. Tidiness suggests that something is as good as it's going to get. Tidiness makes me think of held breath, of suspended animation, while writing needs to breathe and move.”

“You can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.”

“It is hard to remember that you are a cherished spiritual being when you're burping up apple fritters and Cheetos.”

“So what are we supposed to do again, when we hate everything?You stop pretending life is such fun or makes sense. It's often messy and cruel and dull, and we do the best we can. It's unfair, and jerks seem to win. But you fall in love with a few people. Like I love you, Elizabeth. You're the angel God sent me.”

“Perfectionism means that you try not to leave so much mess to clean up. But clutter and mess show us that life is being lived.”