I only want to write. And there's no college for that except life.

I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.

Sometimes [the expression] old age has a kind of harrowing beauty. But elderly - ugh!

Contemplation seems to be about the only luxury that costs nothing.

We were restless for ages...After a while I heard an owl hooting and calmed myself by thinking of it flying over the dark fields – and then I remembered it would be pouncing on mice. I love owls, but I wish God had made them vegetarian.

Perhaps what you call conventionality, I call decency.

Topaz was wonderfully patient - but sometimes I wonder if it is not only patience, but also a faint resemblance to cows.