The challenge of modern freedom, or the combination of isolation and freedom which confronts you, is to make yourself up. The danger is that you may emerge from the process as a not-entirely-human creature. (Referenced in How to Lose Friends and Alienate People by Toby Young)

Socrates said the unexamined life is not worth living. But the over-examined life makes you wish you were dead. Given the alternative, I'd rather be living.

The best argument is an undeniably good book.

The body, she says, is subject to the force of gravity. But the soul is ruled by levity, pure.

I think that New York is not the cultural centre of America, but the business and administrative centre of American culture.

The main reason for rewriting is not to achieve a smooth surface, but to discover the inner truth of your characters.

I've discovered that rejections are not altogether a bad thing. They teach a writer to rely on his own judgment and to say in his heart of hearts, 'To hell with you.'