“I only know that it was, and ceased to be; and that I have written, and there I leave it.”

“I have a heart to be stabbed in or shot in, I have no doubt, and, of course, if it ceased to beat, I would cease to be. But you know what I mean. I have no softness there, no—sympathy—sentiment—nonsense.”

“I have a list of titles that I leave at the [library] desk, because they are bound to be written some day, and it's best to be ahead of the queue.”

“I cannot choose one hundred best books because I have only written five”

“I never liked the term “experimental writing,” but what else is a prose poem? Having written a number of them, I still don’t know how they’re written.”

“I also wonder fearfully what will happen when the only friend I have ever had, the only one who knows everything without ever having to ask, leaves behind her this woman whom no one knows, enshrouding her in oblivion.”