It is the first experience you ever had of reading a decent poem: 'Oh, somebody else is lonely, too!

There’s a difference between being alone and being lonely. Writers know that. I have never met a writer who does not crave to be alone. We have to be alone to do what we do.

Irreverence is a way of playing hooky and remaining present at the same time.

the wasting of time is the most personal, most private, most intimate form of conversation with oneself, as well as with another.

Metaphor is not, and never has been, a mere literary term. It is an event.

It is the first experience you ever had of reading a decent poem: 'Oh, somebody else is lonely, too!

My happiness is marred only by my failure to attain it.