I believe - I know (there are not many things I should care to dogmatize about, on the subject of writing) that writers need solitude, and seek alienation of a kind every day of their working lives. (And remember, they are not even aware when and when not they are working.) ... The tension between standing apart and being fully involved; that is what makes a writer.

Your whole life you are really writing one book, which is an attempt to grasp the consciousness of your time and place– a single book written from different stages of your ability.

Art defies defeat by its very existence, representing the celebration of life, in spite of all attempts to degrade and destroy it.

One can't measure how a mood of confidence comes about.

The function of a writer is to make sense of life. It is such a mystery, it changes all the time, like the light.

a writer doesn't only need the time when he's actually writing - he or she has got to have time to think and time just to let things work out. Nothing is worse for this than society. Nothing is worse for this than the abrasive, if enjoyable, effect of other people.

Success sometimes may be defined as a disaster put on hold. Qualified. Has to be.