God hides things by putting them near us..

I often look for beauty in form and structure, and for ideas..

Since I went no grasse hath growne on my hele..

You must understand that when you are writing a novel you are not making anything up. It's all there and you just have to find it..

When I was 18 I already had a business going..

I don't like novels that tie everything up in a plot-y way. I always think that's not really true of life, particularly of people in power..

Things [only] exist once they are represented..

You can hold onto anything to make you carry on..

Take what you got and fly with it..

There is no better way of elevating the novel than by making it into a construct which contains ideas..

I've never been competitive with anybody but myself..

If I could sum it up in 50 words, I wouldn't have needed to write a whole novel about it..

When you're the ingénue no one is really interested in you for that..

I am not an African. I am an American..

Politics is a highly tribal business..

No one survives life..

Charge for something and make more than you spend..

If you push too much for somebody that everyone knows is your friend, and that you've worked with before, it can backfire..

Strength is for service, not status.

I don't pull, I just receive..

You can change so many things in your life, but you cannot change where you come from. It's something that you have to deal with: the role everybody ….