THE ALLURE OF Montana is like a commitment to a narcotic; you can never use it up or get enough of it. Its wilderness areas probably resemble the earth on the first day of creation.

When you find the right people, you never let go. The people who count are the ones who are your friends in lean times. You have all the friends you want when things are going well.

In the alluvial sweep of the land, I thought I could see the past and the present and the future all at once, as though time were not sequential in nature but took place without a beginning or an end, like a flash of green light rippling outward from the center of creation, not unlike a dream inside the mind of God.

You have two choices in life. You either die or do something with your time. You're going to be doing something - why not write?

The only thing an artist has to remember is to never lose faith in his vision.

If we break promises to God, shouldn't we be allowed an occasional violation of our word to our friends and superiors?

To misuse one's talent, to be cavalier about it, to set it aside because of fear or sloth is unpardonable.