There are these two kinds of patriotism. There's blind patriotism, unflagging patriotism. And then there's the patriotism that says I live in a democracy and it's very important for the health and the life of this democracy that it get better all the time, not get worse.

Television is coitus interruptus brought into aesthetics.

The mark of mediocrity is to look for precedent.

When I read it ["Tough Guys Don't Dance"], I don't wince, which is all I ever ask for a book I write.

Cancer is the growth of madness denied.

I don't read other writers because I'm writing all the time. It's too disturbing to read a writer with a good style when you're in the middle of putting your work together.

Writing can wreck your body. You sit there on the chair hour after hour and sweat your guts out to get a few words.