You have to quit confusing a madness with a mission.

I am interested in making up a good case for distortion, as I am coming to believe it is the only way to make people see.

The basic experience of everyone is the experience of human limitation.

I don't think literature would be possible in a determined world. We might go through the motions but the heart would be out of it. Nobody could then 'smile darkly and ignore the howls.' Even if there were no Church to teach me this, writing two novels would do it. I think the more you write, the less inclined you will be to rely on theories like determinism. Mystery isn't something that is gradually evaporating. It grows along with knowledge.

The life you save may very well be your own.

Anybody who has survived his childhood has enough information about life to last him the rest of his days.

I believe the teacher's work is largely negative, that it is largely a matter of saying, "This doesn't work because ..." or "This does work because ..." The because is very important. The teacher can help you understand the nature of your medium, and he can guide you in your reading.