When I Sit At That Typewriter, I

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.

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.

Watching The Animals Come And Go, And Feeling The Land Swell Up To Meet Them And Then Feeling It Grow Still At Their Departure, I Came To Think Of The Migrations As Breath, As The Land Breathing. In Spring A Great Inhalation Of Light And Animals. The Long-bated Breath Of Summer. And An Exhalation That Propelled Them All South In The Fall.

Remember On This One Thing, Said Badger. The Stories People Tell Have A Way Of Taking Care Of Them. If Stories Come To You, Care For Them. And Learn To Give Them Away Where They Are Needed. Sometimes A Person Needs A Story More Than Food To Stay Alive. That Is Why We Put These Stories In Each Other's Memories. This Is How People Care For Themselves.