I've outlived my parents, and I've had some wonderful second chances in life. I feel remarkably uncheated.

If I get too old to write, or short-term memory loss - that was the one Philip Roth was worried about - if I got to that point, that would be terrible, because everything about my life has been streaming toward writing and having something to say. That would make me feel as though I were in an iron maiden of some kind.

I feel like everyone just gets constricted by their parents or, just, life.

I had a passionate zest for Key West life in all of its little details. I'm not sure why or where that came from, but I was so excited to be there.

I feel like I have adopted the Philippines as my second country.

I feel as though my life is bathed in golden sunlight. And the really wonderful thing is that I know it.