“So long as I have questions to which there are no answers, I shall go on writing.”

“There are works which wait, and which one does not understand for a long time; the reason is that they bring answers to questions which have not yet been raised; for the question often arrives a terribly long time after the answer.”

“You have been given questions to which you cannot be given answers. You will have to live them out - perhaps a little at a time.'And how long is that going to take?'I don't know. As long as you live, perhaps.'That could be a long time.'I will tell you a further mystery,' he said. 'It may take longer.”

“Shall I tell you why young men love war? . . . In peace, there are a hundred questions with a thousand answers! In war, there is only one question with one right answer. . . . Going to war makes you a man. It is emotionally exciting and morally restful.”

“Music is what I have to do, I only answer the questions so that I can do it.”

“(on teaching writing) So many writers come to class with one question dominant in their mind, 'How do I make a living from this?' It's a fair enough question and one I always try to answer well - but it saddens me that it so often overshadows the more relevant questions of 'why am I writing' and 'what am I saying' and 'how do I keep it honest.”