Mosquito [...] had asked Ear to marry him, whereupon Ear fell on the floor in uncontrollable laughter. "How much longer do you think you will live?" she asked. "You are already a skeleton." Mosquito went away humiliated, and any time he passed her way he told Ear that he was still alive.

What you must accept is that your life is not going to be the same while you are writing.

It has always been quite apparent to me that no important story can fail to tell us something of value to us.

Every lizard lies on its belly, so we cannot tell which has a belly-ache

Once a novel gets going and I know it is viable, I don't then worry about plot or themes. These things will come in almost automatically because the characters are now pulling the story.

They have not always elected the best leaders, particularly after a long period in which they have not used this facility of free election. You tend to lose the habit.

I don't care about age very much.