Good and evil appear to be joined in every culture at the spine.

Knowing who you are is good for one generation only. You haven't the foggiest idea where you stand now or who you are

I have found, in short, from reading my own writing, that my subject in fiction is the action of grace in territory largely held by the devil. I have also found that what I write is read by an audience which puts little stock either in grace or the devil. You discover your audience at the same time and in the same way that you discover your subject, but it is an added blow.

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.

Right now the whole world seems to be going through a dark night of the soul.

I write because I don't know what I think until I read what I say.

...free will does not mean one will, but many wills conflicting in one man. Freedom cannot be conceived simply.