Depending on what I'm working on, I come to the writing desk with entirely different mindsets. When I change form one to the other, it's as if another writer is on the scene.

The world is made of stairs, and there are those who go up and those who go down.

It seemed to me... that the only valid people to deal with crime were cops, and I would like to make the lead character, rather than a single person, a squad of cops.

I try to keep all my novels in print. Sometimes publishers don't agree with me as to their worth.

I've never been a cop nor hope to be a cop, thanks.

I wanted to be an artist. I was studying art. I wanted to be a great painter. When I went into the Navy, there wasn't much to draw at sea. So I began writing, and I began reading a lot.

Its a matter of style. The Evan Hunter style and the Ed McBain style are very, very different.

Changing writing styles is like an actor taking on a different part.

Readers are what it's all about, aren't they? If not, why am I writing?

I know that all cops are not sterling characters. But you have to have someone to root for. I balance it with rotten cops who will take a bribe, who will beat somebody up.

We need leaders who can reflect theologically and help develop more robust thinking that understands how context affects our understanding of God, humankind, the fall, and redemption.

Never focus your attention on what the world has to say about you. Rather turn your focus inside and listen to what your inner voice has to say to you.

Attitude is better than aptitude.

If absolute power corrupts absolutely where does that leave God?

The destination of life is this eternal moment.

There's no luck involved in chess. You just have to work at it.

I wish that the act of publishing a book was less of a nerve-wracking experience.

What we discover is it was not the waves or the birds or the wind that were standing out and being separate from existence; it was we who were standing out and being separate from existence.

I consider looseness with words no less of a defect than looseness of the bowels.

When a man's life is under debate, The judge can ne'er too long deliberate.

Mine is a quiet exploration—a quest for new meanings in color, texture and design. Even though I sometimes portray scenes of poor and struggling people, it is a great joy to paint.