“Every sentence I utter must be understood not as an affirmation, but as a question.[A caution he gives his students, to be wary of dogmatism.]”

“No scientist ever begins his work de novo; while he works with the methodological questioning of what he has already known he builds on knowledge already achieved and engages in a movement of advance. But it is one of the worst characteristics of theological study, whether in biblical interpretation or in dogmatic formulation, that every scholar nowadays thinks he must start all over again, and too many give the impression that no one ever understood this or that until they came along.”

“The most important question a seminary student must answer about his professor is not, 'Is he orthodox?,' but 'Is he honest?”

“I always tell my writing students that every good piece of writing begins with both a mystery and a love story. And that every single sentence must be a poem. And that economy is the key to all good writing. And that every character has to have a secret.”

“He understood it then. The potential, the utter, unbelievable freedom to be whoever existed underneath his skin.”

“One must give himself completely to his art and not hold back. Throw caution to the wind. Embrace the muse. Make love to your art.”