I would really rather feel bad in Maine than feel good anywhere else

Whatever else an American believes or disbelieves about himself, he is absolutely sure he has a sense of humor.

A writer's style reveals something of his spirit, his habits, his capacites, his bias...it is the Self escaping into the open.

I guess I remembered clearest of all the early mornings, when the lake was cool and motionless, remembered how the bedroom smelled of the lumber it was made of and of the wet woods whose scent entered through the screen.

I am still encouraged to go on. I wouldn't know where else to go.

It is Sunday, mid-morning-Sunday in the living room, Sunday in the kitchen, Sunday in the woodshed, Sunday down the road in the village: I hear the bells, calling me to share God's grace.

A writer should tend to lift people up, not lower them down.