So there you have it, a lifetime of first smelling the books, they all smell wonderful, reading the books, loving the books, and remembering the books.

The blizzard doesn't last forever; it just seems so.

The answer to all writing, to any career for that matter, is love.

Hollywood was a good influence because I was madly in love with films, and the films had a direct influence on me.

The reason I shift gears constantly, why I'm doing an opera, why I've done essays, why I've written poetry for years that nobody wanted, why I do short stories and novels and screenplays... is so I will have new ways of failing. This means becoming a student again.

An athlete may run ten thousand miles in order to prepare for one hundred yards. Quantity gives experience.

The trouble with Jim was he looked at the world and could not look away. And when you never look away all your life, by the time you are thirteen you have done twenty years taking in the laundry of the world.