Sometimes A Person Needs A Story More

You Can't Learn Anything From Saguaro Cactus, From Ocotillo. They Are Just Passing Through; Their Roots, Their Much Heralded Dormancy In The Dry Season, These Are Only Illusions Of Permanence. They Know Even Less Than You Do.

My Function As A Writer Is To Provide An Atmosphere In Which People Can Think Wisely About What We're Doing On This Planet.

We Cannot, Of Course, Save The World Because We Do Not Have Authority Over Its Parts. We Can Serve The World Though. That Is Everyone's Calling, To Lead A Life That Helps.

When We Enter The Landscape To Learn Something, We Are Obligated, I Think, To Pay Attention Rather Than Constantly To Pose Questions. To Approach The Land As We Would A Person, By Opening An Intelligent Conversation. And To Stay In One Place, To Make Of That One, Long Observation A Fully Dilated Experience. We Will Always Be Rewarded If We Give The Land Credit For More Than We Imagine, And If We Imagine It As Being More Complex Even Than Language. In These Ways We Begin, I Think, To Find A Home, To Sense How To Fit A Place.

People Think That If You've Written A Book And Somebody's Given You A Pat On The Back Then, You Know, It's All - You're All Settled, You Know? You're Going To Be Fine. I Know That If I'm Not Confused, And Really Afraid, My Work Isn't Going To Be Any Good.