Southern lawyers don't read novels much.

As a reader I loathe introductions...Introductions inhibit pleasure, they kill the joy of anticipation, they frustrate curiosity.

Try fighting with your head for a change... it's a good one, even if it does resist learning.

When a child asks you something, answer him, for goodness sake. But don't make a production of it. Children are children, but they can spot an evasion faster than adults, and evasion simply muddles 'em.

People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.

My objectives are very limited. I want to do the best I can with the talent God gave me. I hope to goodness that every novel I do gets better and better, not worse and worse.

Why reasonable people go stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up, is something I don't pretend to understand.