Under the thinning fog the surf curled and creamed, almost without sound, like a thought trying to form inself on the edge of consciousness.

If you're not tough it's hard to survive in this world; and if you're not kind then you don't deserve to survive.

When I split an infinitive, God damn it, I split it so it stays split.

The challenge of screenwriting is to say much in little and then take half of that little out and still preserve an effect of leisure and natural movement

A man who drinks too much on occasion is still the same man as he was sober. An alcoholic, a real alcoholic, is not the same man at all. You can't predict anything about him for sure except that he will be someone you never met before.

It is not a fragrant world.

It was a smooth silvery voice that matched her hair. It had a tiny tinkle in it, like bells in a doll's house. I thought that was silly as soon as I thought of it.