“What a writer has to do is write what hasn't been written before or beat dead men at what they have done.”

“A writer should write what he has to say and not speak it.”

“The writer must write what he has to say, not speak it.”

“This book is fiction, but there is always a chance that such a work of fiction may throw some light on what has been written as fact.”

“I would stand and look out over the roofs of Paris and think, "Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.”

“If the reader prefers, this book may be regarded as fiction. But there is always the chance that such a book of fiction may throw some light on what has been written as fact.”

“If a writer of prose knows enough about what he is writing about, he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water”