An artist's saddest secrets are those that have to do with his artistry.

Desire is creation, is the magical element in that process. If there were an instrument by which to measure desire, one could foretell achievement.

It is cremated youth. It is all yours--no one gave it to you.

This is reality, whether you like it or not--all those frivolities of summer, the light and shadow, the living mask of green that trembled over everything, they were lies, and this is what was underneath. This is the truth.

When people ask me if it has been a hard or easy road, I always answer with the same quotation, the end is nothing, the road is all.Willa Cather

The great fact in life, the always possible escape from dullness, was the lake. The sun rose out of it, the day began there; it was like an open door that nobody could shut. The land and all its dreariness could never close in on you. You had only to look at the lake, and you knew you would soon be free.

People always think the bread of another country is better than their own.