No matter how wonderful the story, it has to move on something, and that is language. The words that I use, the pace, the rhythm and cadences all need to be there. If they're not there, the story is like a boat that just sits there and doesn't move on the ocean.
From Tim O'Brien
I learned that moral courage is harder than physical courage.
If I see a phrase that strikes me as ugly, I'll delete it. Or, if I find a way to say something a bit more freshly than it was expressed originally, I'll do it. Ultimately, you want to try to leave behind the best possible paragraph or sentence.
I live in my head all day long and the world is a little dreamy.
Everyone acts stupid at some time in order to be loved.
Storytelling is the essential human activity. The harder the situation, the more essential it is.
My life is storytelling. I believe in stories, in their incredible power to keep people alive, to keep the living alive, and the dead.
By telling stories, you objectify your own experience. You separate it from yourself. You pin down certain truths.
I think I'm a pretty moral guy, a very moral guy, but I'm not perfect.
America before the 1960s was a pretty innocent place. We were the Lone Ranger galloping off to the rescue of the needy and the oppressed of the world, and we could get things done.
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