They say great themes make great novels

Much as I like owning a Rolls-Royce, I could do without it. What I could not do without is a typewriter, a supply of yellow second sheets and the time to put them to good use.

An artist is his own fault.

Becoming the reader is the essence of becoming a writer.

Never play cards with a man named Doc, and never eat at a place called Mom's.

In every marriage the wife has to keep her mouth shut about at least one small thing her husband does that disgusts her.

But whats the use of being old if you cant be dumb?

Illinois is a state of suspended animation and the people live in hibernation from Oct. to whenever it ever gets warmer.

Hot lead can be almost as effective coming from a linotype as from a firearm.

The trouble is people leave too much to luck. They get married and then trust to luck. They should be sure in the first place.

George Gershwin died on July 11, 1937, but I don’t have to believe it if I don’t want to.

One should learn by considering one's own failures that are a part of life.

Fear gripped her like hands around the neck, the way it could only happen in an unfamiliar room in the pitch black of night.

As things get worse, poetry gets better because it becomes more necessary.

It is a pleasant world we live in, sir, a very pleasant world. There are bad people in it, Mr. Richard, but if there were no bad people, there would be no good lawyers.

As I stood and watched the mists slowly rising this morning I wondered what view was more beautiful than this.

Badfinger were a great band

I did the bible as told through Hispanic people and they laughed and applauded. I thought, "Oh my god, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life."

Giving children the opportunity to stir up life and leave it free to discover.

But the less a man knows about the past and the present the more insecure must prove to be his judgment of the future.

No man would, I think, exchange his existence with any other man, however fortunate. We had as lief not be, as not be ourselves.