“I am an optimist. Anyone interested in the future has to be otherwise he would simply shoot himself.”

“When it happens, this is what happens: I shoot myself.Not, you know, my self self. I shoot my future self. He steps out of a time machine, introduces himself as Charles Yu. What else am I supposed to do? I kill him. I kill my own future.”

“Before I’ll take my clone on as a pupil in the craft of writing, he must prove his worthiness. He must write 100 thoughts down, of which 10 might be interesting. If he’s done that, good, then he must write 1,000 thoughts, of which 200 might be interesting. If he’s done that, good, then he must write 10,000 thoughts down, of which 4,000 might be interesting. If he’s done that, good, then he no longer needs me to teach him, because he has taught himself. And since he would be teaching himself, it would prove that I really am the best teacher.”

“A story is a letter that the author writes to himself, to tell himself things that he would be unable to discover otherwise.”

“He was saner than anyone --had fallen out of the world of illusion: love, interesting work, hope for the future.”

“Men are made for happiness, and anyone who is completely happy has a right to say to himself: “I am doing God’s will on earth.”