Henry James was one of the nicest old ladies I ever met.

Gettysburg. . . . You cant understand it. You would have to be born there.

The writer's only responsibility is to his art.

He is thinking quietly: I should not have got out of the habit of prayer.

In a strange room you must empty yourself for sleep. And before you are emptied for sleep, what are you. And when you are emptied for sleep, what are you. And when you are emptied for sleep you are not. And when you are filled with sleep, you never were. I don't know what I am. I don't know if I am or not.

the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself which alone can make good writing because only that is worth writing about, worth the agony and the sweat

I dont hate it he thought, panting in the cold air, the iron New England dark; I dont. I dont! I dont hate it! I dont hate it!