The mind travels faster than the pen; consequently, writing becomes a question of learning to make occasional wing shots, bringing down the bird of thought as it flashes by. A writer is a gunner, sometimes waiting in the blind for something to come in, sometimes roaming the countryside hoping to scare something up.

Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time.

Home was quite a place when people stayed there.

Old age is a special problem for me because I've never been able to shed the mental image I have of myself - a lad of about 19.

A shaft of sunlight at the end of a dark afternoon, a note of music, and the way the back of a baby’s neck smells if it’s mother keeps it tidy,” answered Henry. “Correct,” said Stuart. “Those are the important things. You forgot one thing, though. Mary Bendix, what did Henry Rackmeyer forget?” “He forgot ice cream with chocolate sauce on it,” said Mary quickly.

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.