Without a reader, I cannot write. It's like a kiss: they cannot be done alone.

The irony of Christmas is always upon the poor in heart; the mystery of the solstice is always upon the rest of us.

Homesickness is nothing. Fifty percent of the people in the world are homesick all the time.

Admite the world. Relish the love of a gentle woman. Trust in the lord.

When I remember my family, I always remember their backs. They were always indignantly leaving places.

What I am going to write is the last of what I have to say. I will say that literature is the only consciousness we possess and that its role as consciousness must inform us of our ability to comprehend the hideous danger of nuclear power.

I have always been the lover - never the beloved - and I have spent much of my life waiting for trains, planes, boats, footsteps, doorbells, letters, telephones, snow, rain, thunder.