“When a man must be afraid to drink freely from his country's river and streams that country is no longer fit to live in. ”

“A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.”

“The moral duty of the free writer is to begin his work at home: to be a critic of his own community, his own country, his own government, his own culture. The more freedom the writer possesses, the greater the moral obligation to play the role of critic.”

“A writer must be hard to live with: when not working he is miserable, and when he is working he is obsessed. Or so it is with me. Thus my writing life consists of spells of languor alternating with fits and spasms of mad typing. At all times, though, I keep a journal, a record book, and most everything begins in the form of notes scribbled down on the pages of that journal.”

“The love of a man for his wife, his child, of the land where he lives and works, is for me the real meaning of mystical experience.”

“When a man's best friend is his dog, that dog has a problem.”

“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”