The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more than any qualification I ever earned.

The purpose of literature is to turn blood into ink.

"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all."

I don’t love novels that end happily. They depress me so much.