Being a man given to oratory and high principles, he enjoyed the sound of his own vocabulary and the warmth of his own virtue.

Writers have a rare power not given to anyone else: we can bore people long after we are dead.

Most troubles are unnecessary. We have Nature beaten; we can make her grow wheat; we can keep warm when she sends blizzards. So we raise the devil just for pleasure--wars, politics, race-hatreds, labor-disputes.

The trouble with this country is that there are too many people going about saying, "The trouble with this country is...."

Every compulsion is put upon writers to become safe, polite, obedient, and sterile.

Writers kid themselves-about themselves and other people. Take the talk about writing methods. Writing is just work-there's no secret. If you dictate or use a pen or type with your toes-it is just work.

There was much conversation, most of which sounded like the rest of it.