Any writer who knows what he's doing isn't doing very much.

And never, ever, no matter what else you do in your whole life, never sleep with anyone whose troubles are worse than your own.

One of the best things Henry Miller ever said was that art goes all out. It's all out. It goes full length. . . . A big book is an all-out book in which you limit your life to things that pertain directly to the book.

You don't write a novel out of sheer pity any more than you blow a safe out of a vague longing to be rich. A certain ruthlessness and a sense of alienation from society is as essential to creative writing as it is to armed robbery.

For the masses who do the city's labor also keep the city's heart.

There's people in hell who want ice water.

Watch for a wild boy of no particular clan, ready for anything, always armed. Prefers fighting to toil, drink to fighting, chasing women to booze or battle: may attempt all three concurrently.