I could never be a Communist. I could never be regimented. I could never be told what to write.

Cut out all these exclamation points. An exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke.

An artist is someone who can hold two opposing viewpoints and still remain fully functional.

My whole theory of writing I can sum up in one sentence. An author ought to write for the youth of his own generation, the critics of the next, and the schoolmasters of ever afterward.

So when the blue smoke of brittle leaves was in the air and the wind blew the wet laundry stiff on the line I decided to come back home.

What are you going to do? "Can't say - run for president, write -" "Greenwich Village?" "Good heavens, no - I said write - not drink.

Work like hell! I had 122 rejection slips before I sold a story.

All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath.

Whether it's something that happened twenty years ago or only yesterday I must start out with an emotion, one that's close to me and that I can understand.