“Many writers do little else but sit in small rooms recalling the real world.”

“It should surprise no one that the life of the writer--such as it is--is colorless to the point of sensory deprivation. Many writers do little else but sit in small rooms recalling the real world. This explains why so many books describe the author's childhood. A writer's childhood may well have been the occasion of his only firsthand experience. Writers read literary biography, and surround themselves with other writers, deliberately to enforce in themselves the ludicrous notion that a reasonable option for occupying yourself on the planet until your life span plays itself out is sitting in a small room for the duration, in the company of pieces of paper. ”

“So it is that a writer writes many books. In each book, he intended several urgent and vivid points, many of which he sacrificed as the book's form hardened.”

“Society places the writer so far beyond the pale that society does not regard the writer at all.”

“It is difficult to undo our own damage, and to recall to our presence that which we have asked to leave.”

“I do not so much write a book as sit up with it, as a dying friend. I hold its hand and hope it will get better.”

“You do not have to sit outside in the dark. If, however, you want to look at the stars, you will find that darkness is necessary. But the stars neither require nor demand it.”