Spend as much time as you can with your mouth shut and your eyes and ears open.

Going after anything worthwile in life entailed risk, of course. A man of ambition and courage didn't let that stop or delay him. A man accepted the dangers, the element of chance. If he didn't, he won nothing.

Be persistent. Editors change; tastes change; editorial markets change. Too many beginning writers give up too easily.

Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish.

We are all dying of life.

Guilty she might be. But what human being was not? There were things in her past she needn't be ashamed of, things to be proud of; she wouldn't surrender so meekly to a condemning judgment.

The first treasure California began to surrender after the Gold Rush as the oldest: her land.