And really the purpose of art - for me, fiction - is to alert, to indicate to stop, to say: Make certain that when you rush through you will not miss the moment which you might have had, or might still have.

My choice of a life of adventure may well have been a result of the fact that action raised my blood pressure giving me enough energy to live.

The popular culture says . . . Do what you do, your life is predestined, like the installment plan on your house. There's not much you can do about it. Make your payments, live it, get sick, die, don't make any trouble. It is the Master Charge of destiny. Try to get your high credit rating.

It's not that you aren't likable. On the contrary. You are. It's just that one wonders if you haven't made a career out of being so likable.

All my father saw was what he wanted to see.

I can create countries just as I can create the actions of my characters. That is why a lot of travel seems to me a waste of time.

I suppress in my prose any language which calls attention to itself.