You don't understand. You've never hated anybody. No, I never have. We're allotted just so much time on earth, and I wouldn't want the Lord to see me wasting mine in any such manner.
Truman CapoteI think the only person a writer has an obligation to is himself. If what I write doesn't fulfill something in me, if I don't honestly feel it's the best I can do, then I'm miserable.
Truman CapoteSince each story presents its own technical problems, obviously one can't generalize about them on a two-times-two-equals-four basis. Finding the right form for your story is simply to realize the most natural way of telling the story. The test of whether or not a writer has defined the natural shape of his story is just this: After reading it, can you imagine it differently, or does it silence your imagination and seem to you absolute and final? As an orange is final. As an orange is something nature has made just right.
Truman CapoteNever love a wild thing, Mr. Bell,โ Holly advised him. โThat was Docโs mistake. He was always lugging home wild things. A hawk with a hurt wing. One time it was a full-grown bobcat with a broken leg. But you canโt give your heart to a wild thing; the more you do, the stronger they get. Until theyโre strong enough to run into the woods. Or fly into a tree. Then a taller tree. Then the sky. Thatโs how youโll end up Mr. Bell. If you let yourself love a wild thing. Youโll end up looking at the sky.
Truman Capote