sometimes i wish i'd been an englishman; american life is so damned dumb and stupid and healthy

I’m not sure what I’ll do, but— well, I want to go places and see people. I want my mind to grow. I want to live where things happen on a big scale.

To a profound pessimist about life, being in danger is not depressing.

If I knew words enough, I could write the longest love letter in the world and never get tired

The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly.

A writer like me must have an utter confidence, an utter faith in his star. It's an almost mystical feeling, a feeling of nothing-can-happen-to me, nothing-can-touch-me.... I once had it. But through a series of blows, many of them my own fault, something happened to that sense of immunity and I lost my grip.

The unwelcome November rain had perversely stolen the day's last hour and pawned it with that ancient fence, the night.