“...I have to write to discover what I am doing. Like the old lady, I don't know so well what I think until I see what I say; then I have to say it again.”

“I write because I don't know what I think until I read what I say.”

“I write to discover what I know.”

“I find that most people know what a story is until they sit down to write one.”

“In short, I am amenable to criticism, but only within the sphere of what I am trying to do; I will not pretend to do otherwise.”

“I have found, in short, from reading my own writing, that my subject in fiction is the action of grace in territory largely held by the devil.I have also found that what I write is read by an audience which puts little stock either in grace or the devil. You discover your audience at the same time and in the same way that you discover your subject, but it is an added blow.”

“I have almost no capacity for worship. What I have is the knowledge that it is my duty to worship and worship only what I believe to be true.”May 19, 1962”