“Short stories do not say this happened and this happened and this happened. They are a microcosm and a magnification rather than a linear progression.”

“That was what happened to laughter when you caged it. It became unbearably sad. It was worse than crying.”

“The short story form allows evocation, suggestion, implication. Its potency often lies in what it does not say.”

“Long fiction is wonderful and you can lose yourself in it as a reader and as a writer, but short stories don't allow the same kind of immersion. Often the best stories hold you back and make you witness them. This may be one of the reasons some people reject the form. That and the fact that they are harder work to read. A story will not let you get comfortable and settle in. It is like a stool that is so small that you must always be aware of sitting.”

“Alice's eyes fell to the bundle she carried. But she only said, 'People from the other side of the mirror want to know who and where and why and what is the name. They have to know everything. They are always gnawing at things and at one another.''It's good to want to know things,' Jack said defensively.'It is? What happens when there is no answer?' she sneered. 'Wanting-to-know is always biting at you. Biting and itching. You want to much. Go back to your own world. You don't belong here”

“I heard you laughing,' Jack said. He wanted to say something about the quality of that terrible laughter, but he did not know how to begin. So he said, ' I've never heard anyone laugh like you do.”

“‎It is better to pursue a hopeless hope than to give in to black despair.”