It can be worth forgoing marriage for sex, and it can be worth forgoing sex for marriage. It can be worth forgoing parenthood for work, and it can be worth forgoing work for parenthood. Every case is orthogonal to all the others. That’s the entire problem.

Is it a failure of my imagination that I’ve never been able to summon any genuine feeling about a sports team?

Everything has to be paid for, especially money.

There are two kinds of people: those who can’t perform the act when they’re sad and those who perform it only to escape sadness. I have a theory that the second kind of person lives longer.

You aren’t the same person after a good night’s sleep as you are after a sleepless night. But which person is you?

I’ve never seen a ghost and I don’t believe in them. I might see one tonight, but even then I wouldn’t believe in ghosts. I’d believe in that ghost.

I like writing that is unsummarizable, a kernel that cannot be condensed, that must be uttered exactly as it is.

I don’t love writing; I love having a problem I believe I might someday write my way out of.

Everything has to be paid for, especially money.