“Most of life's actions are within our reach, but decisions take willpower.”

“Beyond imagination and insight, the most important component of talent is perseverance—the will to write and rewrite in pursuit of perfection. Therefore, when inspiration sparks the desire to write, the artist immediately asks: Is this idea so fascinating, so rich in possibility, that I want to spend months, perhaps years, of my life in pursuit of its fulfillment? Is this concept so exciting that I will get up each morning with the hunger to write? Will this inspiration compel me to sacrifice all of life's other pleasures in my quest to perfect its telling? If the answer is no, find another idea. Talent and time are a writer's only assets. Why give your life to an idea that's not worth your life?”

“No matter our talent, we all know in the midnight of our souls that 90 percent of what we do is less than our best.”

“Story is metaphor for life and life is lived in time.”

“(...)while it's true that the unexamined life is not worth living, it's also true that the unlived life isn't worth examining.”

“In life two negatives don't make a positive. Double negatives turn positive only in math and formal logic. In life things just get worse and worse and worse.”

“The Law of Diminishing Returns is true of everything in life, except sex, which seems endlessly repeatable with effect.”