People need trouble - a little frustration to sharpen the spirit on, toughen it.

The salvation of the world is in man's suffering.

The writer's only responsibility is to his art...If a writer has to rob his mother, he will not hesitate; the 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' is worth any number of old ladies.

It's a shame that the only thing a man can do for eight hours a day is work. He can't eat for eight hours; he can't drink for eight hours; he can't make love for eight hours. The only thing a man can do for eight hours is work.

I discovered that my own little postage stamp of native soil was worth writing about and that I would never live long enough to exhaust it.

To understand the world, you must first understand a place like Mississippi.

It takes two people to make you, and one people to die. That's how the world is going to end.