A writer - and, I believe, generally all persons - must think that whatever happens to him or her is a resource.

At the beginning of their careers many writers have a need to overwrite. They choose carefully turned-out phrases; they want to impress their readers with their large vocabularies. By the excesses of their language, these young men and women try to hide their sense of inexperience. With maturity the writer becomes more secure in his ideas. He finds his real tone and develops a simple and effective style.

If I were asked to name the chief event in my life, I should say my father's library.

Heaven and hell seem out of proportion to me: the actions of men do not deserve so much.

All writing is dreaming

We forget that we are all dead men conversing with dead men.

A . . . poet is a discoverer rather than an inventor.