There is a decivilizing bug somewhere at work; unconsciously persons of stern worth, by not resenting and resisting the small indignities of the times, are preparing themselves for the eventual acceptance of what they themselves know they don't want.

Democracy is a request from a War Board, in the middle of a morning in the middle of a war, wanting to know what democracy is.

The main thing I try to do is write as clearly as I can. I rewrite a good deal to make it clear.

The most puzzling thing about TV is the steady advance of the sponsor across the line that has always separated news from promotion, entertainment from merchandising. The advertiser has assumed the role of originator, and the performer has gradually been eased into the role of peddler.

I am reminded of the advice of my neighbor. "Never worry about your heart till it stops beating.

The South is the land of the sustained sibilant. Everywhere, for the appreciative visitor, the letter "s" insinuates itself in the scene: in the sound of sea and sand, in the singing shell, in the heat of sun and sky, in the sultriness of the gentle hours, in the siesta, in the stir of birds and insects.

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