“Offer them what they secretly want and they of course immediately become panic-stricken.”

“Hell man, I know very well you didn't come to me only to want to become a writer, and after all what do I really know about it except that you've got to stick to it with the energy of a benny addict.”

“I have finally taught Dean that he can do anything he wants, become mayor of Denver, marry a millionairess, or become the greatest poet since Rimbaud. But he keeps rushing out to see the midget auto races”

“They never asked, I kept offering.”

“If you dont [sic] say what you want, what's the sense of writing?”

“I had nothing to offer anybody, except my own confusion”

“I have nothing to offer anybody, except my own confusion.”