Jonathan Carroll

May this house stand until an ant drinks the ocean and a tortoise circles the world.

Very often I'll find out at the end of a book what I put in at the beginning. A sort of process of elimination and discovery in one.

There's almost always a point in a book where something happens that triggers the rest of the plot.

The Wilmington, Delaware, television station that bills itself as The Family Minded Station is Channel 69.

Salzburg... is a mountain town with a rushing river running right through the center, everything in the rain various shades of green and brown.

People are always waiting to be discovered.

Old people are often impatient, but for what?

Just write about what bites you and damn the rest.

I've never seen myself as a fantasy writer - ever.

I write about what interests me. It's very dangerous when you try to satisfy an audience.

I have never heard anyone say This is it. I know right now is the high point of my life. It will never get any better. Only in retrospect do we recognize the best times and of course then it is too late.

I don't like to have to pan for gold when I read.

Everyone coming out of a perfume store is smelling the back of their hand.

Coffee on an airplane always smells bad. Whenever it is served, suddenly the whole cabin stinks of it.

You have to walk carefully in the beginning of love; the running across fields into your lover's arms can only come later when you're sure they won't laugh if you trip.

I find you write with one person in mind. Usually for me that one person is my wife, because she's my most severe critic and understands best what I'm trying to do.

Most men, no matter how well or badly dressed, carry overstuffed, beat up wallets that should have been replaced years ago. Why is that? Every time I see a guy take out a wallet anywhere, it looks like a piece of old melted chocolate cake-with strings.

People who truly love us can be divided into two categories: those who understand us, and those who forgive us our worst sins. Rarely do you find someone capable of both.

It's always fun to walk down the street with or behind a really beautiful woman, for no reason other than to see how the world reacts to them.

I read less of everything now. With only fond memories of others' work, it will be interesting to give my own journal writing a try now.