Because there is very little honor left in American life, there is a certain built-in tendency to destroy masculinity in American men.

The essence of spirit ... was to choose the thing which did not better one's position but made it more perilous. That was why the world he knew was poor, for it insisted morality and caution were identical.

Dying can't be all that difficult-up to now everyone has managed to do it.

When a novel comes, it's a grace. Something in the cosmos has forgiven you long enough so that you can start.

You're gambling with something vital. Most writers get smashed egos.

I don't trust a man who uses the word evil eighteen times in ten minutes. If you're half evil, nothing soothes you more than to think the person you are opposed to is totally evil.

In my day the library was a wonderful place.... We didn't have visual aids and didn't have various programs...it was a sanctuary.... So I tend to think the library should remain a center of knowledge.