“In order to rise from its own ashes, a Phoenix first must burn.”

“In order to riseFrom its own ashesA phoenixFirstMustBurn.”

“First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you're inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won't. Habit is persistence in practice.”

“My brother Keith begged to go with us as usual. He'll turn thirteen in a few days - August 14 - and the thought of waiting two more years until he's 15 must seem impossible to him. I understand. Waiting is terrible. Waiting to be older is worse than other kinds of waiting because there's nothing you can do to make it happen faster.”

“When apparent stability disintegrates,As it must--God is Change--People tend to give inTo fear and depression,To need and greed.When no influence is strong enoughTo unify peopleThey divide.They struggle,One against one,Group against group,For survival, position, power.They remember old hates and generate new ones,The create chaos and nurture it.They kill and kill and kill,Until they are exhausted and destroyed,Until they are conquered by outside forces,Or until one of them becomesA leaderMost will follow,Or a tyrantMost fear.”

“In my years, I have seen that people must be their own gods and make their own good fortune. The bad will come or not come anyway.”

“I'm a fifty-three-year-old writer who can remember being a ten-year-old writer and who expects someday to be an eighty-year-old writer.”