Reading is at the center of our lives. The library is our brain. Without the library, you have no civilization.

It was a pleasure to burn.

If you're reluctant to weep, you won't live a full and complete life.

At the top of your lungs, shout and listen to the echoes. You must live life at the top of your voice!

I have four daughters and eight grandchildren. My soul lives on in them. That's immortality. That's the only immortality I care about.

Think of Shakespeare and Melville and you think of thunder, lightning, wind. They all knew the joy of creating in large or small forms, on unlimited or restricted canvases. These are the children of the gods.

Dad," said Will, his voice very faint. "Are you a good person?" "To you and your mother, yes, I try. But no man's a hero to himself. I've lived with me a lifetime, Will. I know everything worth knowing about myself-" "And, adding it all up...?" "The sum? As they come and go, and I mostly sit very still and tight, yes, I'm all right.