We need more true mystery in our lives Hem- he said. The completely unambitious writer and the really good unpublished poem are the things we lack most. There is of course the problem of sustenance

When you have a child, the world has a hostage.

It was a pleasant cafe, warm and clean and friendly, and I hung up my old water-proof on the coat rack to dry and put my worn and weathered felt hat on the rack above the bench and ordered a cafe au lait. The waiter brought it and I took out a notebook from the pocket of the coat and a pencil and started to write.

I always worked until I had something done and I always stopped when I knew what was going to happen next. That way I could be sure of going on the next day.

The first and most important thing of all, at least for writers today, is to strip language clean, to lay it bare down to the bone.

Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated.

It could be worse,' Passini said respectfully. "There is nothing worse than war." Defeat is worse." I do not believe it," Passini said still respectfully. "What is defeat? You go home.