In a whisper he began begging for—and, as the sun set, received—the concession people always beg for: a little more time.

(and Catholics give out forgiveness at about the same rate as politicians give out promises and whores give out)

The belief that consciousness extends beyond death is surely to put more belief in the permanence of self, not less. That seems to me a comfort that you're allowing yourself.

First rule of writing: When still a child, make sure you read a lot of books. Spend more time doing this than anything else.

No matter what anyone says, suicide takes guts. It's for heroes and martyrs, truly vainglorious men. Archie was none of these. He was a man whose significance in the Greater Scheme of Things could be figured along familiar ratios: Pebble : Beach Raindrop : Ocean Needle : Haystack

It seems to me now that the deep structures [in writing] are often subconscious and set in childhood.

It's got two aspects. The bit that involves the public life I could not really tolerate and cannot really tolerate. I just can't get used to the idea of being somebody unreal in people's minds. I can't live my life like that.