I abhor the idea of a perfect world. It would bore me to tears.

Before the war it was always the United States *are*, after the war it was the United States is... it made us an is.

The Civil War defined us as what we are and it opened us to being what we became, good and bad things... It was the crossroads of our being, and it was a hell of a crossroads.

If you want to study writing, read Dickens. That's how to study writing, or Faulkner, or D.H. Lawrence, or John Keats. They can teach you everything you need to know about writing.

People make a grievous error thinking that a list of facts is the truth. Facts are just the bare bones out of which truth is made.

When you grow up in a totally segregated society, where everybody around you believes that segregation is proper, you have a hard time. You can't believe how much it's a part of your thinking.

A university is just a group of buildings gathered around a library.

As a Southerner I would have to say that one of the main importances of the War is that Southerners have a sense of defeat which none of the rest of the country has.

I think making mistakes and discovering them for yourself is of great value, but to have someone else to point out your mistakes is a shortcut of the process.

Longevity conquers scandal every time.

North was only a direction indicated by a compass--if a man had one, that is, for otherwise there was no north or south or east or west; there was only the brooding desolation.

Survival is triumph enough.

Light quirks of music, broken and uneven,Make the soul dance upon a jig to Heav'n.

Why then would people look to the United Nations as an instrument of peace, if instead all it is, is an instrument of putting out declarations that nobody intends to take seriously anyway?

Probably I, like a lot of people, became a writer in imitation of or in homage to the books I enjoyed. When you're so captivated by something, you think, could I do that? Hmm, let me try

When you see a guy reach for stars in the sky You can bet that he's doing it for some doll.

I would not give one moment of heaven for all the joy and riches of the world, even if it lasted for thousands and thousands of years.

We keep wanting to save those who are forlorn in this world. It’s a male habit.

Do your own thing; always follow your dreams and don't feel limited by what someone prescribes to you as to what you should do. Expand your horizons, try new things, be adventurous.

No instance exists of a person's writing two language perfectly. That will always appear to be his native language which was most familiar to him in his youth.

I really love baseball. The guys and the game, and I love the challenge of describing things.