You learn best by reading a lot and writing a lot, and the most valuable lessons of all are the ones you teach yourself.

I'm not making an enemy; I'm keepin' one.

A person can't change all at once.

You pay for what you get, you own what you pay for... and sooner or later whatever you own comes back home to you.

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

Reading a good long novel is in many ways like having a long and satisfying affair

That's the day's business. Thinking. Thinking and isolation, because it doesn't matter if you pass the time of day with someone or not; in the end, you're alone. He seemed to have put in as many miles in his brain as he had with his feet. The thoughts kept coming and there was no way to deny them.