Modern life ... is often a mechanical oppression and liquor is the only mechanical relief.

They can't yank a novelist like they can a pitcher. A novelist has to go the full nine, even if it kills him.

Remember everything is right until it's wrong. You'll know when it's wrong.

it is all very well for you to write simply and the simpler the better. But do not start to think so damned simply. Know how complicated it is and then state it simply.

I know the night is not the same as the day: that all things are different, that the things of the night cannot be explained in the day, because they do not then exist, and the night can be a dreadful time for lonely people once their loneliness has started.

Never go on trips with anyone you do not love.

The only decent bone in her body was mine.