“Anyone who writes is too precious to lose. ”

“There're too many people in the world like you," Yoshio said. "Too many people who don't have anyone they care about. Who think if they don't love anyone else then they're free to do whatever they want. They think they have nothing to lose, and that makes them stronger. If you have nothing to lose, there's nothing you really want, either. You're full of confidence, and look down on people who lose things, who want things, who are happy, or sad sometimes. But that's not the way things are. And it's just not right.”

“The imagination is precious. Don't lose it. Don't lose the child in you.”

“You lose anyone, there’s no replacing them. What you need to get is that’s precious, you get to keep that, you don’t want to replace it. That doesn’t mean you can’t find something else just as good.”

“Anyone who conceives of writing as an agreeable stroll towards a middle-class life-style will never write anything but crap.”

“Anyone who is going to be a writer knows enough at fifteen to write several novels.”