The writer's duty is to keep on writing.

I felt myself no longer a husk but a body with some of the body's sweet juices stirring again. I had my first dream in many months, confused but to this day imperishable, with a flute in it somewhere, and a wild goose, and a dancing girl.

The good writing of any age has always been the product of someone's neurosis.

Wickedly funny to read and morally bracing as only good satire can be.

I think that the best of my generation...have reversed the customary rules of the game and have grown more radical as they have gotten older - a disconcerting but healthy sign. To be sure, there are many youngish old fogies around and even the most illustrious of these, William Buckley, is blessed by a puzzling, recondite but undeniable charm, almost as if beneath that patrician exterior an egalitarian was signaling to get out.

I think that one of the compelling themes of fiction is this confrontation between good and evil.

A great book should leave you with many experiences.