You never learn how to write a novel. You just learn how to write the novel that you're writing.

There is no limit to stupidity. - Space itself is said to be bounded by its own curvature, but stupidity continues beyond infinity.

All time exists. That is the truth.... If the future did not exist now, how could we journey toward it? If the past does not exist still, how could we leave it behind?

There's a certain kind of lonely man who rejects love, because he believes that anyone who offers it wouldn't be a lover worth having.

My whole life experience feeds into my writing. I think that must be true for every writer. Clearly the Army and combat were major influences; just the same, you need to understand that many of the writers we have now couldn't load a revolver.

Men are said to desire women, Severian. Why do they despise the women they obtain?

Do not start a story unless you have an ending in mind. You can change the story's ending if you wish, but you should always have a destination.