It's because even a good man can't always be right, that we need ... rules.

It's my experience that very few writers, young or old, are really seeking advice when they give out their work to be read. They want support; they want someone to say, "Good job."

Imagining something is better than remembering something.

You don't want to dwell on your enemies, you know. I basically feel so superior to my critics for the simple reason that they haven't done what I do. Most book reviewers haven't written 11 novels. Many of them haven't written one.

When people say that German or any other language is romantic... all they really mean is that they've enjoyed a past in the language

… and so he tried to accept the ache in his heart as what Dr. Larch would call the common symptoms of normal life.

Self-hatred is worse than loneliness.