Good fiction is made of that which is real, and reality is difficult to come by.

Good fiction is made of that which is real, and reality is difficult to come by.

Ralph Ellison

In order to travel far you have to be detached.

In order to travel far you have to be detached.

The act of writing requires a constant plunging back into the shadow of the past where time hovers ghostlike.

The act of writing requires a constant plunging back into the shadow of the past where time hovers ghostlike.

That is how the world moves: Not like an arrow, but a boomerang.

That is how the world moves: Not like an arrow, but a boomerang.

Had the price of looking been blindness, I would have looked.

Had the price of looking been blindness, I would have looked.

We look too much to museums. The sun coming up in the morning is enough.

We look too much to museums. The sun coming up in the morning is enough.

The truth is the light and the light is the truth.

The truth is the light and the light is the truth.

Eclecticism is the word. Like a jazz musician who creates his own style out of the styles around him, I play by ear.

Eclecticism is the word. Like a jazz musician who creates his own style out of the styles around him, I play by ear.

I do not know if all cops are poets, but I know that all cops carry guns with triggers.

I do not know if all cops are poets, but I know that all cops carry guns with triggers.

God is love, I said, but art's the possibility of forms, and shadows are the source of identity.

God is love, I said, but art's the possibility of forms, and shadows are the source of identity.

The end is in the beginning and lies far ahead.

The end is in the beginning and lies far ahead.

Power, for the writer lies in his ability to reveal if only a little bit more about the complexity of humanity.

Power, for the writer lies in his ability to reveal if only a little bit more about the complexity of humanity.

Injustice wears ever the same harsh face wherever it shows itself.

Injustice wears ever the same harsh face wherever it shows itself.

What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do?

What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do?

I am nobody but myself.

I am nobody but myself.

There are few things in the world as dangerous as sleepwalkers.

There are few things in the world as dangerous as sleepwalkers.

I am not ashamed of my grandparents for having been slaves. I am only ashamed of myself for having at one time being ashamed.

I am not ashamed of my grandparents for having been slaves. I am only ashamed of myself for having at one time being ashamed.

Without the possibility of action, all knowledge comes to one labeled 'file and forget.'

Without the possibility of action, all knowledge comes to one labeled 'file and forget.'

I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer.

I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer.