No one can write decently who is distrustful of the reader's intelligence or whose attitude is patronizing.

Extreme cold when it first arrives seems to generate cheerfulness and sociability. For a few hours all life's dubious problems are dropped in favor of the clear and congenial task of keeping alive.

Make the work interesting and the discipline will take care of itself.

When an American family becomes separated from its toothbrushes and combs and pajamas for a few hours it considers that it has had quite an adventure.

Only a person who is congenially self-centered has the effrontery and the stamina to write essays

I have always felt that the first duty of a writer was to ascend - to make flights, carrying others along if you can manage it. To do this takes courage, even a certain conceit.

We should all do what, in the long run, gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting the laundry.