I seal that which was not to be said in the tomb that I become.

A newspaper can follow the compulsions, the desires of the readers. Take the English evening newspapers - they are following the readers' desires when they are interested only in the royal family gossip. But even the most objective, serious newspaper in the world designs the way in which the reader could or should think. That's unavoidable.

The question of manuscript changes is very important for literary criticism, the psychology of creation and other aspects of the study of literature.

New Orleans is not in the grip of a neurosis of a denied past; it passes out memories generously like a great lord; it doesn't have to pursue "the real thing."

Where else? I belong to a lost generation and am comfortable only in the company of others who are lost and lonely.

Once you reach your fifties, you have to stop being interested in the present and write only on Elizabethan poets.

I think of myself as a serious professor who, during the weekend, writes novels.