God gave us so many emotions, and so many strong ones. Every human being, even if he is an idiot, is a millionaire in emotions.

What do these children do without storybooks?" Naftali asked. And Reb Zebulun replied: "They have to make do. Storybooks aren't bread. You can live without them." I couldn't live without them." Naftali said.

When literature becomes overly erudite, it means that interest in the art has gone and curiosity about the artist is what's important. It becomes a kind of idolatry.

Literature has neglected the old and their emotions. The novelists never told us that in love, as in other matters, the young are just beginners and that the art of loving matures with age and experience.

It seems that the analysis of character is the highest human entertainment. And literature does it, unlike gossip, without mentioning names.

The New England conscience doesn't keep you from doing what you shouldn't - it just keeps you from enjoying it.

I know as a writer how valuable a tool is the wastebasket. Perhaps God throws away many experiments before He finds the right expression. Perhaps we are the discards - or we could be the part He keeps. This mystery is what keeps us all going, to see what happens in the next chapter.