“Anybody can get worked up, if they have the intention. It's peacefulness that is hard to come by on purpose.”

“It's terrible to lose somebody, but it's also true that some people never have anybody to lose, and I think that's got to be so much worse.”

“Peace and Love, get high and fly with the dove.”

“It's a great freedom to give up on love, and get on with everything else.”

“Beginning a novel is always hard. It feels like going nowhere. I always have to write at least 100 pages that go into the trashcan before it finally begins to work. It's discouraging, but necessary to write those pages. I try to consider them pages -100 to zero of the novel.”

“Children can be your heartache. But that doesn't matter, you have to go on and have them . . . it works out.”

“Everyone should get dirt on his hands each day. Doctors, intellectuals. Politicians, most of all. How can we presume to uplift the life of the working man, if we don't respect his work?”