“She talked all the time and at first it was about people and places.”

“All my life I've looked at words as though I were seeing them for the first time.”

“When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.”

“You'll lose it, if you talk about it”

“Though there is one part of writing that is solid and you do it no harm by talking about it, the other is fragile, and if you talk about it, the structure cracks and you have nothing.”

“I never used to realize it, I guess. I try and play it along and just not make trouble for people. Probably I never would have had any trouble at all if I hadn't run into Brett when they shipped me to England. I suppose she only wanted what she couldn't have. Well, people were that way. To hell with people. The Catholic Church had an awfully good way of handling all that. Good advice, anyway. Not to think about it. Oh, it was swell advice. Try and take it sometime. Try and take it.”

“This is a hell of dull talk... How about some of that champagne?”