Abandon the idea that you are ever going to finish.

There's nothing sadder to me than associations held together by nothing but the glue of postage stamps. If you can't see or hear or touch a man, it's best to let him go.

Texas has a tight cohesiveness perhaps stronger than any other section of America.

The writer must believe that what he is doing is the most important thing in the world. And he must hold to this illusion even when he knows it is not true.

Maybe it's true that we are all descended from the restless, the nervous, the criminals, the arguers and brawlers, but also the brave and independent and generous. If our ancestors had not been that, they would have stayed in their home plots in the other world and starved over the squeezed-out soil.

There's something desirable about anything you're used to as opposed to something you're not.

Four hoarse blasts of a ship's whistle still raise the hair on my neck and set my feet to tapping.