I'm constantly revising. Once the book is written and typed, I go through the entire draft again.

Every man who has shown the world the way to beauty, to true culture, has been a rebel, a 'universal' without patriotism, without home, who has found his people everywhere.

Art is whether or not there is a scream in him wanting to get out in a special way.

I get up around 6:30. I work from about 8:00 to 1:00, take a break for lunch, work again until about 5:00, and then go for a long walk and have dinner. Then, if my wife and I have no previous plans, we decide what to do for the evening.

If I had a plot that was all set in advance, why would I want go through the agony of writing the novel? A novel is a kind of exploration and discovery, for me at any rate.

It is impossible to fuse totally with a culture for which you feel a measure of antagonism.

It's not a pretty world, Papa.' 'I've noticed,' my father said softly.