What I want to do is to make people laugh so that they'll see things seriously.
Clutter is the disease of American writing.
Examine every word you put on paper. You'll find a surprising number that don't serve any purpose.
Writing is learned by imitation. If anyone asked me how I learned to write, I'd say I learned by reading the men and women who were doing the kind of writing I wanted to do and trying to figure out how they did it.
The writer who cares about usage must always know the quick from the dead.
Even a poor translator couldn't kill a style that moves with such narrative clarity.