Cut him. Cut him while I stand here and watch. I want to see the blood flow. Don't make me tell you twice.

Man may have been made in the image of God, but human society was made in the image of His opposite number, and is always trying to get back home.

As with all other aspects of fiction, the key to writing good dialogue is honesty.

I see things, that's all. Write enough stories and every shadow on the floor looks like a footprint; every line in the dirt like a secret message.

Be true, be brave, stand All the rest is darkness.

You want to remember that while you're judging the book, the book is also judging you.

The essential and defining characteristic of childhood is not the effortless merging of dream and reality, but only alienation. There are no words for childhood's dark turns and exhalations. A wise child recognizes it and submits to the necessary consequences. A child who counts the cost is a child no longer.