I never considered myself a patriot. I like to think I recognize only humanity as my nation.

A subtle thought that is in error may yet give rise to fruitful inquiry that can establish truths of great value.

The age of the pulp magazine was the last in which youngsters, to get their primitive material, were forced to be literate.

When asked for advice by beginners. Know your ending, I say, or the river of your story may finally sink into the desert sands and never reach the sea.

Plate glass... has no beauty of its own. Ideally, you ought not to be able to see it at all, but through it you can see all that is happening outside. That is the equivalent of writing that is plain and unadorned. Ideally, in reading such writing, you are not even aware that you are reading. Ideas and events seem merely to flow from the mind of the writer into that of the reader without any barrier between. I hope that is what is happening when you read this book

The first law of dietetics seems to be: if it tastes good, it's bad for you.

I'm gradually managing to cram my mind more and more full of things. I've got this beautiful mind and it's going to die, and it'll all be gone. And then I say, not in my case. Every idea I've ever had I've written down, and it's all there on paper. And I won't be gone; it'll be there.