It seems to me that if you or I must choose between two courses of thought or action, we should remember our dying and try so to live that our death brings no pleasure on the world.

I start out to write five days a week, and then it runs to six days and finally seven. Then, eventually, that wave of weariness overwhelms me and I don't know what's the matter. That is, I know but I won't admit it. I'm just tired from writing. As you get older, writing becomes harder. By that I mean you see so many more potentialities. Things like transition used to trouble me. But not any more. When I say it's harder, I'm not talking about facility. You learn all the so-called tricks, but then you don't want to use them.

It’s a hard thing to leave any deeply routine life, even if you hate it.

The people say that the two seemed to be removed from human experience; that they had gone through pain and had come out on the other side.

The last clear definite function of man — muscles aching to work, minds aching to create beyond the single need — this is man.

People don't want advice...only corroboration.

We only have one story. All novels, all poetry are built on the never-ending contest in ourselves of good and evil.