No reform ever came from the bottom, and it was always people who understood how the ruling class worked who turned out to be the reformers.

Constant work, constant writing and constant revision. The real writer learns nothing from life. He is more like an oyster or a sponge. What he takes in he takes in normally the way any person takes in experience. But it is what is done with it in his mind, if he is a real writer, that makes his art.

The creation of a work of art, like an act of love, is our one small 'yes' at the center of a vast 'no.'

A talent for drama is not a talent for writing, but is ability to articulate human relationships.

Never have varmints, only grandvarmints.

Politics is made up of two words: "Poli," which is Greek for "many," and "tics," which are bloodsucking insects.

Perfect love sometimes does not come until the first grandchild.