Perhaps he had to be close in order to keep a reason for the things he did. To make the things he did be themselves Life. And not merely a delightful exercise of technical skill which man had been able to achieve because he, of all the animals, had a fine thumb. Which is nonsense, for whatever you live is Life.
Robert Penn WarrenI've been to a lot of places and done a lot of things, but writing was always first. It's a kind of pain I can't do without.
Robert Penn WarrenStorytelling and copulation are the two chief forms of amusement in the South. They're inexpensive and easy to procure.
Robert Penn WarrenBut for the present I would lie there and know I didn't have to get up, and feel the holy emptiness and blessed fatigue of a saint after the dark night of the soul. For God and Nothing have a lot in common. You look either one of Them straight in the eye for a second and the immediate effect on the human constitution is the same.
Robert Penn Warren