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

A child understands fear, and the hurt and hate it brings.

In a country like South Africa, writers have nuisance value, because those of us who have become known overseas have certainly helped to inform people about what life is like there.

it's impossible to conquer all fear and loss by preparation. There are always sources of desolation that aren't taken into account because no one knows what they will be.

Writing is making sense of life. You work your whole life and perhaps you've made sense of one small area.

The facts are always less than what really happened.

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.