The tragedy of bold, forthright, industrious people is that they act so continuously without much thinking, that it becomes dry and empty.

it is when you are really living in the present-working, thinking, lost, absorbed in something you care about very much, that you are living spiritually.

So remember these two things: you are talented and you are original. Be sure of that. I say this because self-trust is one of the very most important things in writing.

Don't always be appraising yourself, wondering if you are better or worse than other writers. "I will not Reason and Compare," said Blake; "my business is to Create." Besides, since you are like no other being ever created since the beginning of Time, you are incomparable.

we like fixed rules because that ends thinking and we can rest. But there is no resting place down here.

Since you are like no other being ever created since the beginning of time, you are incomparable.

vivisection is not the same thing as scientific progress. There is such a thing as scientific progress. But this wholesale dedication of scientists to vivisection, which is the easy and cheap way, actually prevents them from scientific progress, for true progress is difficult and requires genius and imagination in its devoted workers.