And how much better to die in all the happy period of undisillusioned youth, to go out in a blaze of light, than to have your body worn out and old and illusions shattered.

He did not say that because he knew that if you said a good thing it might not happen.

Ezra was right half the time, and when he was wrong, he was so wrong you were never in any doubt about it.

Sometimes you know the story. Sometimes you make it up as you go along and have no idea how it will come out.

All you need to do is write truly and not care about what the fate of it is.

All the critics who could not make their reputations by discovering you are hoping to make them by predicting hopefully your approaching impotence, failure and general drying up of natural juices. Not a one will wish you luck or hope that you will keep on writing unless you have political affiliations in which case these will rally around and speak of you and Homer, Balzac, Zola and Link Steffens.

As in no other form of lute or combat, the conditions are such; the winner takes nothing, neither his ease, nor his pleasure, nor any notion of glory, nor if he wins far enough, will he find anything within himself.