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.

At one point, as Samuel urges Adam to raise his boys well regardless of the blood that might be in them, Adam tells him, "You can't make a race horse of a pig." Samuel replies, "No, but you can make a very fast pig.

You stay out here a little while, an' if you smell any roses, you come let me smell, too.

[He] fell right into the oldest conviction in the world-- that the girl you are in love with can't possibly be anything but true and honest.

A question is a trap and an answer is your foot in it.

Out of all this struggle a good thing is going to grow. That makes it worthwhile.

Unless a reviewer has the courage to give you unqualified praise, I say ignore the bastard.