I never had intimate friends, and the few who came close are in New York. By which I mean they're dead, because that's where I suppose condemned souls go in order not to endure the truth of their past lives.

Faulkner is a writer who has had much to do with my soul, but Hemingway is the one who had the most to do with my craft - not simply for his books, but for his astounding knowledge of the aspect of craftsmanship in the science of writing.

Fame is very agreeable, but the bad thing is that it goes on 24 hours a day.

As a writer I'm merely a journalist who has learned to write better than others.

Nothing resembles a person as much as the way he dies.

He spent six hours examining things, trying to find a difference from their appearance on the previous day in the hope of discovering in them some change that would reveal the passage of time.

Nobody deserves your tears, but whoever deserves them will not make you cry.