For writers it is always said that the first twenty years of life contain the whole of experience – the rest is observation

There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in.

My two fingers on a typewriter have never connected with my brain. My hand on a pen does. A fountain pen, of course. Ball-point pens are only good for filling out forms on a plane.

Hate is a lack of imagination.

Our worst enemies here are not the ignorant and simple, however cruel; our worst enemies are the intelligent and corrupt

Innocence always calls mutely for protection when we would be so much wiser to guard ourselves against it: innocence is like a dumb leper who has lost his bell, wandering the world, meaning no harm.

Innocence is like a dumb leper who has lost his bell, wandering the world, meaning no harm.

A story has no beginning or end: arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead.

A single feat of daring can alter the whole conception of what is possible.

Sweet are the thoughts that savor of content: the quiet mind is richer than a crown.

People who like quotes love meaningless generalizations

That’s what love is like: mother of the greatest bliss and stepmother of the most tragic misery.

Everybody thinks that they are on top of their goals and dreams until they find themselves in the midst of highly motivated ambitious positive minded individuals.

There's kind of a toll you have to pay with a cat if you don't pet her for 10 minutes she'll bother you for six hours.

The essential feature of statistics is a prudent and systematic ignoring of details.

[To be an artist,] this desire to conquer all with images.

I don't really want to go into my problems with the team at the time except to say that no one's ever had to pay me to play basketball.

The Cinderella of the church of today is the prayer meeting.

The painter who has no doubt about his own ability will attain very little.

Making a movie is like making an ocean voyage, and the script is your ship.

Life goes on with fragile normalcy.