Leonard Michaels Quotes

Some animals are secretive; some are shy. A cat is private.

Stories should be natural as apples, brief as lust, long as a thought.

Looking at a cat, like looking at clouds or stars or the ocean, makes it difficult to believe there is nothing miraculous in this world.

There's hardly anywhere in literature where you don't find a triangle.

Of mystery there is no end. Of clarity, there is precious little.

There is always something for which there is no accounting. Take, for example, the whole world.

I read assiduously. I kept in touch with my species.

The prose as such has to be singing the song the story is telling.

Is the story developing an attitude or victimized by it.

Self-confidence can be crippling.

I can only gesture at what makes a story good.

Feb. 1, 1965Storm late at night, heavy rain, a thunderous racket, the windows shaking. I heard my name called. A woman’s voice in hell pleading with me to join her.

Never to have to think of yourself as white is a luxory that makes you deeply stupid.