There is no lie in war or preparation of war that can't be defended.

Writing is a concentrated form of thinking...a young writer sees that with words he can place himself more clearly into the world. Words on a page, that's all it takes to help him separate himself from the forces around him, streets and people and pressures and feelings. He learns to think about these things, to ride his own sentences into new perceptions.

A shrewd person would one day start a religion based on coincidence, if he hasn't already, and make a million.

In these night recitations we create a space between things as we felt them at the time and as we speak them now. This is the space reserved for irony, sympathy and fond amusement, the means by which we rescue ourselves from the past.

Once you've seen the signs about the barn, it becomes impossible to see the barn.

We seem to believe it is possible to ward off death by following rules of good grooming.

I think literature has lost it's power. Great novels continue to be written, but they are no longer changing the world.