"I don't want to do the type of writing where I recite biography, parentage and education. I want to rise up from the words on the page and do something, hurt someone."

"The world is full of abandoned meanings. In the commonplace I find unexpected themes and intensities."

"Insanity's so personal. It's hard to know who shares our secrets."

"I'm not reclusive at all. Just private."

"I've got death inside me. It's just a question of whether or not I can outlive it."

"Self-sacrifice enables us to sacrifice other people without blushing."

"I doubt if a single individual could be found from the whole of mankind free from some form of insanity. The only difference is one of degree."

"Whether a party can have much success without a woman present I must ask others to decide, but one thing is certain, no party is any fun unless seasoned with folly."

"Nobody can make more fun of me than I already make of myself."

"I went to school with Steven Wright, who was the shyest guy I knew, and one day someone suddenly told me that he was in a club doing standup comedy. I went down to his club and he was great. Another friend of mine, who was pretty much a thief by trade, was hosting the show. So I thought, 'If these guys can do it, then so can I.'"

"Now I'm a warrior Now i've got thicker skin I'm a warrior I'm stronger than i've ever been And my amor Is made of steel you can't get in i'm a warrior And you can never hurt me again"

"Light on my heart, Light on my feet, Light in your eyes, I can't even speak Do you even know, How you make me weak"

"Look at what you've done, you're losing me is what you've won. Got me planning to go solo"

"Now I know who you are U got nothin' on me, I see I should've known it from the start You can't tell me lies Don't even try cuz This is goodbye Goodbye"

"As the smoke clears, I awaken, And untangle you from me. Would it make you feel better To watch me, while I bleed? All my windows still are broken, But I'm standing on my feet."

"I hate fussing about in the kitchen when I have people over to supper, so I make a rich beef stew cooked in "wine "with carrots, sundried tomato paste and chopped chorizo sausage."

"I only use statistics to reinforce what I already think, or if it's something unusual."

"I'd never get elected if people in North Carolina realized how liberal I am."

"I am a rubbish flirt."

"I've chosen to stay in a jolly place for most of my life, and that is a lot of who I am."

"I've never disliked myself, and my weight has had nothing to do with my self-esteem."

"For me, whatever age or size I've been, I have rather liked myself. The shell is not the thing at all."

"I think of myself now as a writer, although I wouldn't go as far as to say 'novelist' because that sounds like a Victorian person."

"The only time I did not know how to be, physically, was when I lost a lot of weight. That was the only time I didn't understand my body."