“What is the difference between imaginative literature and other sorts of intellectual endeavor?" " Ones about masturbation and the other's about something 'bigger'." …csb”

“Through engagement with others, literature lets us imagine what it would be like to be different.”

“Writing is a lonely pursuit. The only thing working is imagination and hands.The only difference between writing and masturbation is one is presumably intended for a mass audience.”

“As we tell stories about the lives of others, we learn how to imagine what another creature might feel in response to various events. At the same time, we identify with the other creature and learn something about ourselves.”

“...literature must always be about gloom of one sort or another, on the principal that there is nothing interesting to be said about happy people.”

“Everyone does it.""But no one talks about it," Gloria said. "About the different levels of skill involved. You have to practice before you become a great masturbator.”

“The difference between listening and pretending to listen, I discovered, is enormous. One is fluid, the other is rigid. One is alive, the other is stuffed. Eventually, I found a radical way of thinking about listening. Real listening is a willingness to let the other person change you. When I’m willing to let them change me, something happens between us that’s more interesting than a pair of dueling monologues.”