We dress them [children] in the presumptions of the world. They are the bright small face of hope. They are the last belief we have, the belief in making them believe.

Leo Crowley, Harry [Truman]'s Foreign Economic Administrator, tells Congressmen the theory...: 'If you create good governments in foreign countries, automatically you will have better markets for ourselves.' With that honeycunt staring you in the face, you'd forget your grammar too.

Children have a lot more to worry about from the parents who raised them than from the books they read.

The theory of the teacher with all these immigrant kids was that if you spoke English loudly enough they would eventually understand.

Planning to write is not writing. Outlining, researching, talking to people about what you're doing, none of that is writing. Writing is writing.

The historian will tell you what happened. The novelist will tell you what it felt like.

A novelist is a person who lives in other people's skins.