To die is nothing. One is here, one is no longer here. It is only at the end one must be able to say 'I was a man'.

Knowledge was not meant to be locked behind doors. It breathes best in the open air where all men can inhale its essence.

I do not think much of ages. People are people. What does it matter how old or young they are? It is a category, and I do not like categories. It is a sort of pigeonhole or a label.

If you write a book set in the past about something that happened east of the Mississippi, it's a 'historical novel.' If you write about something that took place west of the Mississippi, it's a 'Western'- and somehow regarded as a lesser work. I write historical novels about the frontier.

One thing has always been true: That book or that person who can give me an idea or a new slant on an old idea is my friend.

Everyone has it within his power to say, this I am today, that I shall be tomorrow.

Have faith in God but keep your powder dry.