So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me.

Understanding is the foundation of all wisdom.

"The novel is a mirror that reflects the complexities of society, and the novelist is the one who polishes that mirror."

The only real progress lies in learning to be wrong all alone.