I was hoping to build a country and add to its literature. That's why I served in World War II, and that's why I wrote books.

You were sick, but now you're well again, and there's work to do.

If I were a physics teacher or a science teacher, it'd be on my mind all the time as how the hell we really got this way. It's a perfectly natural human thought and, okay, if you go into the science class you can't think this. Well, alright, as soon as you leave you can start thinking about it again without giving aid and comfort to the lunatic fringe of the Christian religion.

You want to know something? We are still in the Dark Ages. The Dark Ages--they haven't ended yet.

No matter how corrupt, greedy, and heartless our government, our corporations, our media, and our religious & charitable institutions may become, the music will still be wonderful.

I think William Shakespeare was the wisest human being I ever heard of. To be perfectly frank, though, that's not saying much.

You can't teach people to write well. Writing well is something God lets you do or declines to let you do.