I wondered how a man ever got an English girl into bed. What did they do with her hockey stick?

If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home.

During my lifetime I have met dozens of writers and photographers in dozens of different countries. But I have encountered no one who could both write and photograph with the artistry of Robert Vavra.

In six pages, I can't even say "Hello.

I was brought up in the great tradition of the late nineteenth century: that a writer never complains, never explains and never disdains.

Russia, France, Germany and China. They revere their writers. America is still a frontier country that almost shudders at the idea of creative expression.

Not too many people work in a job where, waiting out there are three or four hundred people who are paid to tear apart what you've done. And often they are brighter than you are, or they know more about the subject than you do, or they wish they had written a book themselves, or done a lot better. Or they just don't like it! And you have to live with it.