"Empathy is a tool for building people into groups, for allowing us to function as more than self-obsessed individuals."

"Because, if one is writing novels today, concentrating on the beauty of the prose is right up there with concentrating on your semi-colons, for wasted effort."

"It's not a bad thing for a writer not to feel at home. Writers - we're much more comfortable at parties standing in the corner watching everybody else having a good time than we are mingling."

"Sometimes the best way to learn something is by doing it wrong and looking at what you did."

"No place epitomizes the American experience and the American spirit more than New York City."

"A resilient spirit knows that the truest form of bravery is vulnerability."

"Bad men are full of repentance."

"Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works."