“It's harder to write in the third person but the advantage is you move around better.”

“There is nothing you can do except try to write it the way that it was. So you must write each day better than you possibly can and use the sorrow that you have now to make you know how the early sorrow came. And you must always remember the things you believed because if you know them they will be there in the writing and you won’t betray them. The writing is the only progress you make.”

“it is all very well for you to write simply and the simpler the better. But do not start to think so damned simply. Know how complicated it is and then state it simply.”

“For a long time now I have tried simply to write the best I can. Sometimes I have good luck and write better than I can.”

“As you get older it is harder to have heroes, but it is sort of necessary.”

“It's none of their business that you have to learn how to write. Let them think you were born that way.”

“Don’t you ever get the feeling that all your life is going by and you’re not taking advantage of it?”