“You write because the brain is an endless wilderness whose roughest terrain can only be traveled with a pencil.”

“To write is to carve a new path through the terrain of the imagination, or to point out new features on a familiar route. To read is to travel through that terrain with the author as a guide-- a guide one might not always agree with or trust, but who can at least be counted on to take one somewhere.”

“A pencil is an extension of a finger writing in the sand. But our electronic media are extensions of our brains.”

“Take a pencil to write with on aeroplanes. Pens leak. But if the pencil breaks, you can't sharpen it on the plane, because you can't take knives with you. Therefore: take two pencils.”

“We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.”

“....and on occasion I like to write in pencil, because I need to know that I can erase the words, even if I never do.”