Elizabeth Hardwick told me once that all her first drafts sounded as if a chicken had written them. So do mine for the most part.

It's easier to bleed than sweat, Mr. Motes.

The Southerner is usually tolerant of those weaknesses that proceed from innocence.

The basis of art is truth, both in matter and in mode.

Dogma can in no way limit a limitless God.

I am a writer because writing is the thing I do best.

...you have to cherish the world at the same time that you struggle to endure it.