Being goal-oriented instead of self-oriented is crucial. I know so many people who want to be writers. But let me tell you, they really don't want to be writers. They want to have been writers. They wish they had a book in print. They don't want to go through the work of getting the damn book out. There is a huge difference.

Creative geniuses are a slap-happy lot. Treat Them with respect.

As a younger man I wrote for eight years without ever earning a nickel which is a long apprenticeship, but in that time I learned a lot about my trade.

Many people who want to be writers don't really want to be writers. They want to have been writers. They wish they had a book in print.

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

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

When this is over, I'm not going to be the same guy. I am going to live as if I were a great man.