The urge to convert experience into a group of words that are in a grammatical relation to one another is the most basic, ongoing impulse of my life.

The essential dilemma of my life is between my deep desire to belong and my suspicion of belonging.

Pet names are a persistent remnant of childhood, a reminder that life is not always so serious, so formal, so complicated.

Pack a pillow and blanket and see as much of the world as you can.You will not regret it.

Immersing myself in Shakespeare's plays, reading them closely under the guidance of a brilliant, plain-spoken professor changed my life: It opened up the great questions; it put my petty problems into perspective. It got me out of bed in the mornings and kept me in the library late into the night.

I find it really liberating to be in a place where I am a foreigner in every way. I've lived with this all my life - this divide, this bifurcation. And in Italy, I don't feel it. There's none of that tension, only the expectation I place on myself to speak the language well. I find it relaxing. Something drops away, and I observe.