Beauty is desired in order that it may be befouled; not for its own sake, but for the joy brought by the certainty of profaning it.

Writing a play is like smashing that [glass] ashtray, filming it in slow motion, and then running the film in reverse, so that the fragments of rubble appear to fly together. You start - or at least I start - with the rubble.

I don't think I can be expected to take seriously any game which takes less than three days to reach its conclusion.

The hard part is getting to the top of page 1.

Underneath runs the main current of preoccupation, which is keeping one's nose clean at all times. This means that when things go wrong you have to pass the blame along the line, like pass-the-parcel, till the music stops.

My work always tried to unite the true with the beautiful; but when I had to choose one or the other, I usually chose the beautiful.

I don't write at the library, because I smoke when I work or would like the possibility of a smoke. Also, I need to be at my own desk.