You are always naked when you start writing; you are always as if you had never written anything before; you are always a beginner. Shakespeare wrote without knowing he would become Shakespeare

All authors know that any book is a casting of runes, a reading of cards, a map of the palm and heart. We make up the ocean - then fall in. But we also write the life raft.

Is a currency worth anything if no one wants it? We used to buy shoes in Italy. Remember?

Once I worshipped Keats for dying young. Now I think it's braver to die old.

Writing is one of the few professions left where you take all the responsibility for what you do. It's really dangerous and ultimately destroys you as a writer if you start thinking about responses to your work or what your audience needs.

Don't ye know that ev'ry Soul on Earth feels itself to be an Orphan?

If you apologize for something that isn't your fault in the first place, you, in effect, confirm their belief that it is your fault.