The secret to success in any human endeavor is total concentration.

There is one other book, that can teach you everything you need to know about life... it's The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, but that's not enough anymore.

He did not think of himself as a writer for the simple reason that the world had never allowed him to think of himself in this way.

It is a very mixed blessing to be brought back from the dead.

Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about. It is this genuine caring, and not your games with language, which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style.

Nobody will stop you from creating. Do it tonight. Do it tomorrow. That is the way to make your soul grow - whether there is a market for it or not! The kick of creation is the act of creating, not anything that happens afterward. I would tell all of you watching this screen: Before you go to bed, write a four line poem. Make it as good as you can. Don't show it to anybody. Put it where nobody will find it. And you will discover that you have your reward.

You can't just eat good food. You've got to talk about it too. And you've got to talk about it to somebody who understands that kind of food.