A God you understood would be less than yourself.

I have what passes for an education in this day and time, but I am not deceived by it.

I distrust pious phrases, especially when they issue from my mouth. I try militantly never to be affected by the pious language of the faithful but it is always coming out when you least expect it. In contrast to the pious language of the faithful, the liturgy is beautifully flat.

I don't deserve any credit for turning the other cheek as my tongue is always in it.

The trees were full of silver-white sunlight and the meanest of them sparkled.

I feel that whatever virtues the novel may have are very much connected with the limitations you mention. I am not writing a conventional novel, and I think that the quality of the novel I write will derive precisely from the peculiarity or aloneness, if you will, of the experience I write from.

I never understand how writers can succumb to vanity - what you work the hardest on is usually the worst.