I don't think it's good to achieve too much at too early an age. What else can the future give you if you've already got all that your imagination has dreamt up for you? A writer is only discovered once in a lifetime, and if it happens very early the impossibility of matching that moment again can have a somewhat corrosive effect on his personality and indeed on the work itself.
Joseph HellerThey're trying to kill me," Yossarian told him calmly. No one's trying to kill you," Clevinger cried. Then why are they shooting at me?" Yossarian asked. They're shooting at everyone," Clevinger answered. "They're trying to kill everyone." And what difference does that make?
Joseph HellerHow much reverence can you have for a Supreme Being who finds it necessary to include such phenomena as phlegm and tooth decay in His divine system of Creation? What in the world was running through that warped, evil, scatological mind of His when He robbed old people of the power to control their bowel movements?
Joseph HellerIโm cold,' Snowden said softly, 'Iโm cold.' 'Youโre going to be all right, kid,' Yossarian reassured him with a grin. 'Youโre going to be all right.' 'Iโm cold,' Snowden said again in a frail, childlike voice. 'Iโm cold.' 'There, there,' Yossarian said, because he did not know what else to say. 'There, there.' 'Iโm cold,' Snowden whimpered. 'Iโm cold.' 'There, there. There, there.
Joseph Heller