“The standard personality type for a writer is a shy megalomaniac.”

“There is no such thing as writer's block for writers whose standards are low enough.”

“The megalomaniac differs from the narcissist by the fact that he wishes to be powerful rather than charming, and seeks to be feared rather than loved. to this type belong many lunatics and most of the great men of history.”

“One ought not to fall in love with someone by way of their writing. One must be especially careful if the writing is good, for then one assumes the writer is good, funny, clever, profound, sensitive, smart, wise, loving, and true. It is unfair to the writer and dangerous to the reader to hold the writer to the standards of his writing, for in his writing, the writer is his best self; in person, he is a person, and we all know what that means.”

“I'm not a writer. Ernest Hemingway was a writer. I just have a vivid imagination and type 90 WPM.”

“If writers possess a common temperament, it's that they tend to be shy egomaniacs; publicity is the spotlight they suffer for the recognition they crave.”