A group of two dozen nurses completely surrounded by 100,000 unattached American men.

Although most of us know Vincent van Gogh in Arles and Paul Gauguin in Tahiti as if they were neighbors -- somewhat disreputable but endlessly fascinating -- none of us can name two French generals or department store owners of that period. I take enormous pride in considering myself an artist, one of the necessaries.

If a young aspirant had a modicum of skill and a busy typewriter she or he would sooner or later get a foothold in one of the magazines and a leaping start on the ladder upward.

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

For all its enormous range of space, climate, and physical appearance, and for all the internal squabbles, contentions, and strivings, what you northerners never appreciate...is that Texas is so big that you can live your life within its limits and never give a damn about what anyone in Boston or San Francisco thinks.

I have only one bit of advice to beginning writers: be sure your novel is read by Rodgers and Hammerstein.

A poet sees things in two ways: First, as a child who never saw it before, and Second, as a dying man who will never see it again.