Americans are incredibly polite as long as they get what they want.

I think I was lucky to come of age in a place and time - the American South in the 1960s and '70s - when the machine hadn't completely taken over life. The natural world was still the world, and machines - TV, telephone, cars - were still more or less ancillary, and computers were unheard of in everyday life.

It's amazing what happens when you stick yourself in a place and let things take their more or less natural course.

The funny thing is, about the time I let go of any aspiration toward worldly success, that's about the time I started writing decent work.

If a person wants to be of any use to himself, he better insist on getting his fair share of beauty and pleasure, and if there's something about the system that's keeping him from getting his share, then I think he's well within his rights to fight to change that.

Late bloomer' is another way of saying 'slow learner.

I never listen to music when I'm writing.