A magic trick of any sort works because you tell yourself a story about what you see. And politicians use this all the time in their own way by throwing a load of statistics at you when things don't quite follow and then saying, 'So therefore blah,' and you believe that 'blah' thing because of the confusion that's come before.
Your life is the fruit of your own doing. You have no one to blame but yourself.
If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches; for the Creator, there is no poverty.
The easiest thing to do, whenever you fail, is to put yourself down by blaming your lack of ability for your misfortunes.
Individual writers have different postures, different stances, even different physical attitudes as they stand or sit over their blank paper, and in a sense, without doing it, they are crossing themselves; I mean, it's like the habit of Catholics going into water: you cross yourself before you go in.
I got to college and saw all of my friends going to these other schools and thought, 'You know, college is just a blank slate.' And I had an opportunity to go to different schools, but I chose Brown because it was unique and allowed you to be yourself as an individual and like I said, it's a blank slate.
If you see a blatant error or misconception about yourself, you really want to set it straight.
To me, the money is - it's certainly a wonderful thing. But it is in direct proportion to how you're able to bless yourself and bless others with it.
The thing to do, it seems to me, is to prepare yourself so you can be a rainbow in somebody else's cloud. Somebody who may not look like you. May not call God the same name you call God - if they call God at all. I may not dance your dances or speak your language. But be a blessing to somebody. That's what I think.
I think a lot of the time having someone who you, not base yourself on, but can see yourself being after a few years, you can get quite blinded by that, in the same way love can be.
I've always believed in experiencing everything in life. When you walk out with blinders on, you cut yourself off from the angels and the fairies.
The primary occupational hazard of blogging is this: it's easier when you yourself take on some of the traits of insanity. It's a job that requires the doer to be selfish, self-absorbed, and superficial.
When I read or study, I don't do it for the degree - if I fail, it doesn't matter, but it just takes me out of this world where you're the centre of attention all the time. You just become a normal bloke when you're setting yourself those kinds of targets.
For me, there's a fine line between telling a story that's fictional with lots of details and then removing yourself too much from it, so it's bloodless, a little too fictional.
You don't have to subject yourself to the sweep and rigor of Bourdieu's book 'Distinction' to feel how thoroughly a lower-calorie version of its ideas has been absorbed into the cultural bloodstream.
Life is to be lived. If you have to support yourself, you had bloody well better find some way that is going to be interesting. And you don't do that by sitting around.
Remember to be gentle with yourself and others. We are all children of chance and none can say why some fields will blossom while others lay brown beneath the August sun.
Young writers often mistakenly choose a certain vein or style based on who they want to be, unconsciously trying to blot out who they actually are. You want to escape yourself.
If you actually want to change your world, there is a better way of doing it than blowing yourself up.
Be honest with yourself about what you're blowing off. A little cancellation here or a bow-out there can add up... but only if you refuse to acknowledge your actions.
