You know, being confident isn't the same as being right. William Landay More Quotes by William Landay More Quotes From William Landay The interior of a teenager’s mind is an endless war between Stupid and Clever. William Landay teenager clever war Genes are not simple triggers. No one is hardwired to commit murder or any other crime. Our actions are always the result of stupendously complex gene-environment interactions, and environment is likely to remain the more important influence by far. William Landay our-actions important simple no one worth knowing can be quite known, no one worth possessing can be quite possessed William Landay possessing possessed knowing But sometimes you can't figure everything out because you can't ever really understand other people. You can't understand why they do what they do. You just have to accept a little mystery, Ben. People are mysterious, the world is mysterious. You can't know everything. You're not supposed to. This isn't a history book. It's just the world. It's a messy place. William Landay book people world There are many more ways to be attractive than to be beautiful. William Landay attractive beautiful way Damage hardens us all. It will harden you too, when it finds you—and it will find you William Landay damage I love sports, as all Bostonians seem to. I love books and movies, as all writers seem to. William Landay bostonians sports book I'm a bit of a tech geek myself. William Landay bits geek Well, I outline fanatically. I am a long thinker and a slow writer, though I am trying to get faster. William Landay faster trying long You can write a great book and be ignored. Literary history is full of classics that were under-appreciated in their own time. William Landay ignored writing book At some point as adults we cease to be our parents' children and we become our children's parents instead. William Landay adults parent children Probably careful plotting reflects my personality. I am meticulous by nature. I can't imagine speed-writing anything that happens to pop into my head. William Landay imagine personality writing When I was 30 or so - by that time I had become an assistant D.A. - I decided I would try to write a novel. To be clear: I did not decide to become a novelist. Honestly, it never crossed my mind that I could actually earn a living as a professional novelist. William Landay mind writing trying I don't ever write with a particular audience in mind. I just write books that please me. William Landay please-me writing book I can't say that I ever actually decided to become a writer. It kind of snuck up on me. William Landay decided i-can kind the act does not create guilt unless the mind is also guilty. William Landay guilt mind doe Predisposition is not predestination. William Landay predestination We move through time like a man in a rowboat, looking back even as we move forward. William Landay rough-times men moving There is no absolute beginning to any story, after all. There is only the moment you begin watching. William Landay absolutes moments stories The rest-the vast majority, tens of thousands of days-are unremarkable, repetitive, even monotonous. We glide through them then instantly forget them. We tend not to think about this arithmetic when we look back on our lives. We remember the handful of Big Days and throw away the rest. William Landay long looks thinking