“The first draft of anything is shit.”

“I write one page of masterpiece to ninety-one pages of shit. I try to put the shit in the wastebasket.”

“For God sake write and don't worry about what the boys will say nor whether it will be a masterpiece nor what.I write one page of masterpiece to ninety one pages of shit. I try to put the shit in the wastebasket.”

“The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shockproof, shit detector.”

“The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shock-proof, shit detector. This is the writer's radar and all great writers have had it.”

“Work could cure almost anything”

“Anything was better than Ezra learning to play the bassoon...”