Anyone who knows me well must understand and be sympathetic to my genuine need to be my own greatest hero. It is not a flaw of character; it is a catastrophe.

Love's action. It isn't talk and it never has been.

The University of South Carolina has always played a role in my life and the intellectual life of South Carolina.

All life connects ... Nothing happens that is meaningless.

In Charleston, more than elsewhere, you get the feeling that the twentieth century is a vast, unconscionable mistake.

Some things don’t mix. Some things don’t mix at all, but sometimes in life you have to take the risk.

William Ferris has long reigned as the unimpeachable source of the entire southern experience. His work on southern folklore and the composition of the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture have made him both legendary and necessary. His book, The Storied South , is a love song to the South Bill helped illuminate. It's a crowning achievement of his own storied career.