I am sifting my memories, the way men pan the dirt under a barroom floor for the bits of gold dust that fall between the cracks. It's small mining-- small mining. You're too young a man to be panning memories, Adam. You should be getting yourself some new ones, so that the mining will be richer when you come to age.

I hold that a writer who does not passionately believe in the perfectibility of man has no dedication nor any membership in literature.

But you can't start over Only a boy can start over You and me Why, we're all that's been

The camera need not be a cold mechanical device. Like the pen, it is as good as the man who uses it. It can be the extension of mind and heart.

I wonder how many people I've looked at all my life and never seen. It's scary to think about. Point of reference again. When two people meet, each one is changed by the other so you've got two new people.

All great and precious things are lonely.

No story has power, nor will it last, unless we feel in ourselves that it is true and true of us.