You ask Why to a lot of things and you wind up very unhappy indeed, if you keep at it. The poor girl's better off dead

People want to be happy, isn't that right? Haven't you heard it all your life? I want to be happy, people say. Well, aren't they? Don't we keep them moving, don't we give them fun? That's all we live for, isn't it? For pleasure, for titillation? And you must admit our culture provides plenty of these.

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.

Action is hope. There is no hope without action.

I feel like I own all the kids in the world because, since I've never grown up myself, all my books are automatically for children.

But souls can't be sold. They can only be lost and never found again.

There are a lot of wonderful women writers who would be good influences on writers. You've got to spread yourself out and educate yourself with all kinds of stories.