Its hard to die. Harder to live

I despair at the rise of modern violence. I truly give in to despair at times, that deep, futureless pit of despair.... I watch the American slaughterhouse, the casual attacks on popes, presidents, and uncounted others, and I wonder if there are many more out there with the Ability or if butchery has simply become the modern way of life.

Merely to live without a pain Is little gladness, little gain, Ah, welcome joy tho' mixt with grief-- The thorn-set flower that crowns the leaf.

The never-ending competition between writers hasn't changed between 1868 and 2000. I used to belong to writers' workshops with other professionals, but that becomes impossible after a while. Everyone's on a different step of the career ladder. Jealousy doesn't have to erupt into murder and burying someone in Wells Cathedral, but it is always there.

The Victorians, they were like the Germans in World War II. They could not stop recording details about their lives and their age.

The Great Change is when humankind accepts its role as part of the natural order of the universe instead of its role as a cancer

This is every writer's nightmare - the sudden breakdown of meaning in the language that sustains and supports us.