I write because I like to write. I find joy in the texture and tone and rhythm of words. It is a satisfaction like that which follows good and shared love.

I see too many men delay their exits with a sickly, slow reluctance to leave the stage. It's bad theater as well as bad living.

You got a God. Don't make no difference if you don' know what he looks like.

Such is the prestige of the Nobel Award and of this place where I stand that I am impelled, not to speak like a grateful and apologetic mouse, but to roar like a lion out of pride in my profession and in the great and good men who have practised it through the ages.

We don't take a trip. A trip takes us.

Not only do the brave get killed, but the brave have a better chance of it.

On all levels American society is rigged. I am troubled by the cynical immorality of my country. It cannot survive on this basis.