I write to try to find out who I am. One of my main themes is manliness. I think I'm trying to figure out what manliness really is.

You've got to bend with the wind or you're broken.

Words mean nothing. Action is the only thing. Doing. That's the only thing.

Only when the mind is free has the body a chance to be free. Yes, they must believe, they must believe. Because I know what it means to be a slave. I am a slave.

I had to see and feel and be with the thing that I wanted to write about.

The artist must be like a heart surgeon. He must approach something with sympathy, but with a sort of coldness and work and work until he finds some kind of perfection in his work. You can't have blood splashing all over the place. Things must be done very cleanly.

I was raised by a lady that was crippled all her life but she did everything for me and she raised me. She washed our clothes, cooked our food, she did everything for us. I don't think I ever heard her complain a day in her life. She taught me responsibility towards my brother and sisters and the community.