Art is not difficult because it wishes to be difficult, but because it wishes to be art.

Art is not difficult because it wishes to be difficult, rather because it wishes to be art. However much the writer might long to be straightforward, these virtues are no longer available to him. He discovers that in being simple, honest, straightforward, nothing much happens.

There's not a strong autobiographical strain in my fiction. A few bits of fact here and there.

Succeed! It has been done, and with a stupidity that can astound the most experienced.

The not-knowing is crucial to art, is what permits art to be made. Without the scanning process engendered by not-knowing, without the possibility of having the mind move in unanticipated directions, there would be no invention.

Maybe writing can't be taught, but editing can be taught—prayer, fasting and self-mutilation.

The best way to live is by not knowing what will happen to you at the end of the day.