“Every first thing is always a miracle. The first person you fall in lo...” — Colum McCann Quote

“Every first thing is always a miracle. The first person you fall in love with. The first letter you receive. The first stone you throw. And in my conception of the novel, the letter becomes important. But what's more important is the fact that we need to continue to tell each other stories.”

“The further away we got from 9/11, the more I wanted to find some way to recover. I wanted to talk about the more anonymous corners of the city, because I think it's very important that not all of that anger was turned to revenge.”

“Stupid to think that our wine will never turn.”

“The contemporary American novelist benefits in a way from being ignored. It makes you angrier and makes you want to go into all of those places where you shouldn't.”

“Very seldom in my fiction have I directly used the stories people have told me. I think ripping off people's lives in fiction is dangerous. It also lacks imagination.”

“Rather he consoled himself with the fact that, in the real world, when he looked closely into the darkness he might find the presence of a light, damaged and bruised, but a little light all the same.”

“I don't personally have a sense that life starts at conception. I don't personally have that sense.”

“Immaculate conception is the only way another kid is coming out of me!”

“Yes, I talk about eating disorders and you know, excessive dieting and excessive exercising can be a sign of a mental illness... but when we talk about eating disorders... the issue is not the food or the exercise, the issue is a lack of healthy conception of self. That is the issue.”

“Our lives our guided by that general conception of the course of things which has been created by society for social purposes.”

“Our lives are programmed at conception and are endowed with purpose and meaning.”

“I've been told that 'Midnight at the Oasis' has been responsible for the conception of more children than any other song of the '70s.”