But novels are never about what they are about; that is, there is always deeper, or more general, significance. The author may not be aware of this till she is pretty far along with it. A novel's whole pattern is rarely apparent at the outset of writing, or even at the end; that is when the writer finds out what a novel is about, and the job becomes one of understanding and deepening or sharpening what is already written. That is finding the theme.

But novels are never about what they are about; that is, there is always deeper, or more general, significance. The author may not be aware of this till she is pretty far along with it.

A chaplain's biggest gift is to be present and just listen.

In what we think of as bad dialogue, the characters talk directly to each other.

The Novelist, afraid his ideas may be foolish, slyly puts them in the mouth of some other fool and reserves the right to disavow them.

Any essayist setting out on a frail apparatus of notings and jottings is a brave person.

...is this not in fact the purpose of young Americans going abroad? To make them think of things they never thought of?