There is a long time in me between knowing and telling.

It's a terrible thing to die young. Still, it saves a lot of time.

We write about what we don't know about what we know.

Old age is another country, a place of strangeness, sometimes, and dislocation. There's a lot to be done in this country, and a great deal of pleasure there. There are friends, some of whom are sick and needful of you, as you will be of them someday. The world itself is very beautiful. It's a place where you have a lot to do. But you have to do it knowing that sometimes you will be afraid of this new country.

My family were Russian Jews. They got you to read as soon as you could. And then assumed you would read a lot. People didn't really tell stories but they were good talkers. That's important for a writer, to hear speakers.

I believe in a kind of fidelity to your own early ideas; it's a kind of antagonism in me to prevailing fads.

If I miss anything, it's being able to hang out in the city of New York meeting people and talking to them on the corner.