“Write about something you know. Try to leave your readers better off than they were before.”

“There’s no better way to mess up a good cowdog than to let him discover that goofing off beats the heck out of hard work.”

“Confession is good for all of us, but even better for you than for me.”

“When time marches on, it steps on your nose and tail, and leaves boot prints down your back.”

“In my job, nobody ever says a word when you do something right, but make one mistake?”

“My parents placed a high value on reading, starting with the King James Bible, and one whole wall of our living room was filled, floor to ceiling, with books. But I was an outside kid and didn’t have the patience to be a reader. That changed, briefly, when I discovered Tom Sawyer in the fourth grade. That was the one book I truly loved. I read it several times, then read Huckleberry Finn. I was fascinated by the way Twain played with language and used regional dialects. But what amazed me most was that Twain allowed the reader to laugh. Reading didn’t have to be drudgery. Twain didn’t allow it.”

“When you have nothing to say, one of your alternatives is to keep your trap shut.”