I have no warm up exercises, other than to take an occasional drink.

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.

To achieve style, begin by affecting none.

To perceive Christmas through its wrappings becomes more difficult with every year.

Habitually creative people are prepared to be lucky.

When snow accumulates week after week, month after month, it works curious miracles.

Every American, to the last man, lays claim to a "sense" of humor and guards it as his most significant spiritual trait, yet rejects humor as a contaminating element wherever found. America is a nation of comics and comedians; nevertheless, humor has no stature and is accepted only after the death of the perpetrator.