“When you're rich you don't write checks.”

“Write. Start writing today. Start writing right now. Don’t write it right, just write it –and then make it right later. Give yourself the mental freedom to enjoy the process, because the process of writing is a long one. Be wary of “writing rules” and advice. Do it your way.”

“Bend when you must. Pull when you must. Both are an offering. When you bend, be at peace; when you pull, do so gently.”

“We rich nations, for that is what we are, have an obligation not only to the poor nations, but to all the grandchildren of the world, rich and poor. We have not inherited this earth from our parents to do with it what we will. We have borrowed it from our children and we must be careful to use it in their interests as well as our own. Anyone who fails to recognise the basic validity of the proposition put in different ways by increasing numbers of writers, from Malthus to The Club of Rome, is either ignorant, a fool, or evil.”

“Writing poetry felt silly, not practical. It was poetry. I wasn't exploring space here. But it felt necessary to me.”

“When you're frustrated with people, when they've made you angry, it just may be because you haven't given them enough time.”

“I don't like doing [things] as myself...I like to be made into someone else.”