I'll give you the whole secret to short story writing. Here it is. Rule 1: Write stories that please yourself. There is no Rule 2.

O all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.

Humans were denied the speech of animals. The only common ground of communication upon which dogs and men can get together is in fiction.

A straw vote only shows which way the hot air blows.

A story with a moral appended is like the bill of a mosquito. It bores you, and then injects a stinging drop to irritate your conscience.

Whenever he saw a dollar in another man's hands he took it as a personal grudge, if he couldn't take it any other way.

I'll give you the whole secret to short story writing. Here it is. Rule 1: Write stories that please yourself. There is no Rule 2.