All Beginnings Are Hard.

He Taught Them That The Purpose Of A Man Is To Make His Life Holy--every Aspect Of His Life: Eating, Drinking Praying, Sleeping. God Is Everywhere, He Told Them, And If It Seems At Times That He Is Hidden From Us, It Is Only Because We Have Not Yet Learned To Seek Him Correctly.

A Man Is Born Into This World With Only A Tiny Spark Of Goodness In Him. The Spark Is God, It Is The Soul; The Rest Is Ugliness And Evil, A Shell. The Spark Must Be Guarded Like A Treasure, It Must Be Nurtured, It Must Be Fanned Into Flame. It Must Learn To Seek Out Other Sparks, It Must Dominate The Shell. Anything Can Be A Shell, Reuven. Anything. Indifference, Laziness, Brutality, And Genius. Yes, Even A Great Mind Can Be A Shell And Choke The Spark.

Reuven Listen To Me. The Talmud Says That A Person Should Do Two Things For Himself. One Is To Acquire A Teacher. Do You Remember The Other." "choose A Friend," I Said. "yes. You Know What A Friend Is, Reuven? A Greek Philosopher Said That Two People Who Are True Friends Are Like Two Bodies With One Soul." I Nodded. "reuven, If You Can, Make Danny Saunders Your Friend." "i Like Him A Lot, Abba." "no. Listen To Me. I Am Not Talking About Only Liking Him. I Am Telling You To Make Him Your Friend And To Let Him Make You His Friend.

I Think The Hardest Part Of Writing Is Revising. And By That I Mean The Following: A Novelist Has To Create The Piece Of Marble And Then Chip Away To Find The Figure In It.

A Writer Is A Strange Instrument Of Our Species, A Harp Of Sorts, Fine-tuned To The Dark Contradictions Of Life.