Ultimately a hero is a man who would argue with the gods, and so awakens devils to contest his vision. The more a man can achieve, the more he may be certain that the devil will inhabit a part of his creation.

...the indispensable requirement for a good newspaperman - as eager to tell a lie as the truth.

There`s a tendency for Americans, particularly the simpler you are, the more you believe in the president as the kind of person to be.

The final purpose of art is to intensify, even, if necessary, to exacerbate, the moral consciousness of people.

It's very bad to write a novel by act of will. I can do a book of nonfiction work that way - just sign the contract and do the book because, provided the topic has some meaning for me, I know I can do it. But a novel is different. A novel is more like falling in love. You don't say, 'I'm going to fall in love next Tuesday, I'm going to begin my novel.' The novel has to come to you. It has to feel just like love.

The sickness of our times for me has been just this damn thing that everything has been getting smaller and smaller and less and less important, that the romantic spirit has dried up, that there is no shame today. We're all getting so mean and small and petty and ridiculous, and we all live under the threat of extermination.

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