Hell must be a place where you are only allowed to read what you agree with.

The old middle-class prerogative of being permanently in a most filthy temper.

There's more of yourself in a book than a play. that's why we know all about Dickens and not much about Shakespeare. Ben Jonson murdered people; Marlowe was a spy; Shakespeare just sat in the corner and took notes.

I don't believe in children's books. I think after you've read Kidnapped, Treasure Island, and Huckleberry Finn, you're ready for anything.

I suppose that writers should, in a way, feel flattered by the censorship laws. They show a primitive fear and dread at the fearful magic of print.

What obsesses a writer starting out on a lifetime's work is the panic-stricken search for a voice of his own.

There is always time for failure