Science fiction makes the implausible possible, while science fantasy makes the impossible plausible.

I guess Requiem for a Heavyweight as old as it is was as honest a piece as I've ever done.

I don't feel, God dictated that I should write.

Coming up with ideas is the easiest thing on earth. Putting them down is the hardest.

I don't enjoy any of the process of writing. I enjoy it when it goes on if it zings and it has great warmth and import and it's successful.

If you write, fix pipes, grade papers, lay bricks or drive a taxi - do it with a sense of pride. And do it the best you know how. Be cognizant and sympathetic to the guy alongside, because he wants a place in the sun, too. And always...always look past his color, his creed, his religion and the shape of his ears. Look for the whole person. Judge him as the whole person.

Writing is a demanding profession and a selfish one. And because it is selfish and demanding, because it is compulsive and exacting, I didn't embrace it. I succumbed to it.