“When I was eight years old, I wrote a paragraph-long short story about...” — Tea Obreht Quote

“When I was eight years old, I wrote a paragraph-long short story about a goat on my mother's hundred-pound, black-and-white-screen laptop. The story came about largely because I liked the way the word 'goat' looked on the page, but I decided then and there that I wanted to be a writer. That desire never changed.”

“Being taken seriously, for a young writer, is a wonderful form of encouragement, but at the same time, I don't think one should ever feel like attempting a kind of artistic endeavor is beyond your scope just because of age or inexperience.”

“Golfers are forever working on mechanics. My tennis swing hasn't changed in 10 years.”

“When I first started writing songs, I was probably about ten or twelve years old, and the first thing you think as a songwriter is, 'Can this be a hit? Can this come out, and people are going to hear the song and like the song, and then they're going to like you, and you'll get famous and rich?' That hasn't changed a bit.”

“If a girl is not covered from head to toe, it does not mean she is inviting you to ogle at her. If we are interpreting it that way, it is not the girl, but our upbringing that is to be blamed. It is the thought process that needs to be changed.”