"If death is in the room, it's pretty interesting. But I would also say that I'm interested in getting myself to believe that it's going to happen to me. I'm interested in it, because if you're not, you're nuts. It's really de facto what we're here to find out about."
"A man who won't die for something is not fit to live."
Martin Luther King, Jr. on Death"To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent."
Buddha on Death"The fear of death is the most unjustified of all fears, for there's no risk of accident for someone who's dead."
Albert Einstein on Death"The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time."
Mark Twain on Death"Death is no more than passing from one room into another. But there's a difference for me, you know. Because in that other room I shall be able to see."
Helen Keller on Death"We try, we fail, we posture, we aspire, we pontificate - and then we age, shrink, die, and vanish."
"My habit would have been to veer towards the dark - to prove I was something edgy, or maybe to prove that I was cognisant of the dark side. Now, with age and confidence, I can say, yeah, that's true, but I am cognisant of the fact that people can do things well. And can be more loving than you expect."
"I still believe that capitalism is too harsh and I believe that, even within that, there is a lot of satisfaction and beauty if you happen to be one of the lucky ones, although that doesn't eradicate the reality of the suffering. It's all true at once, kind of humming and sublime."
"I tend to foster drama via bleakness. If I want the reader to feel sympathy for a character, I cleave the character in half, on his birthday. And then it starts raining. And he's made of sugar."
"I'm finding, as I get older, that I'm not much of a believer in redemption. I mean, I believe in redemption in real life - redemption does happen, and it's cool when it does - but I find myself getting leery of my desire for it in stories (especially my own)."