I had learned volleyball in the Navy, where all the captains and admirals wanted to be spikers, and I found then that a man who can subdue his own desires and master the art of serving others can make himself invaluable. In choosing sides the team captain always chose the good spikers on the first and second choice, but then the spikers would grab his arm and whisper, 'Take Michener.' I was never chosen lower than third, because I was needed. I wasn't good, but I was faithful.

I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions.

Writers turn dreams into print.

The really great writers are people like Emily Brontë who sit in a room and write out of their limited experience and unlimited imagination.

I think young people ought to seek the experience that is going to knock them off center.

I kept careful record of the impact of religion on the election in my county. The religious issue permeated every meeting I conducted. It influenced Republicans and Democrats alike. Ministers preached politics publicly and churches distributed the most vicious electioneering materials. Practically no one I met escaped the pressure of this overriding problem and both parties were ultimately forced to make their major calculations with the religious question a foremost consideration.

On 24 October 1944 Planet Earth was following its orbit about the sun as it has obediently done for nearly five billion years.