"The frontier will nevertheless survive in the attitudes a few of us inherited from it. One of those attitudes--to me a beatitude--is the conviction that the past matters, that history weighs on us and refuses to be forgotten by us, and that the worst poverty women--or men--can suffer is to be bereft of their past."

"The sun gives us light but the moon provides inspiration. If you look at the sun without shielding your eyes you'll go blind. If you look at the moon without covering your eyes you'll become a poet."