I didn't like anything. Maybe I was afraid. That was it - I was afraid. I wanted to sit alone in a room with the shades down. I feasted upon that. I was a crank. I was a lunatic.

being alone never felt right. sometimes it felt good, but it never felt right.

There's no way I can stop writing, it's a form of insanity.

As a recluse I couldn't bear traffic. It had nothing to do with jealousy, I simply disliked people, crowds, anywhere, except at my readings. People diminished me, they sucked me dry.

Her one drink had Cecelia giggling and talking and she was explaining that animals had souls too. Nobody challenged her opinion. It was possible, we knew. What we weren't sure of was if we had any.

The worst thing for a writer is to know another writer, and worse than that, to know a number of other writers. Like flies on the same turd.

People were usually much better in their letters than in reality. They were much like poets in this way.

Goodness could be found sometimes in the middle of hell.

I began to feel like a kept man and it felt great.

You're the most unknown famous man I ever met

I don't know. It's been terribly hard for me. How do I know you won't do it again?''Nobody is ever quite sure of what they will do. You aren't sure what you might do.

When someone is happy and satisfied with himself and things around him, divine grace resides at his face.

Are you afraid?""Yes.""Energy never stops, remember. It just changes forms.""I am still afraid.

A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner.

I wanted to live the inner life of every man I saw, look at the world through his eyes.

By far the greatest discovery of all the centuries is the power of thought.

After the pain of this disappointment her heart once more stood empty, and the succession of identical days began again.

If we wish to rebuild our cities, we must first rebuild our neighborhoods.

People who have achieved a public voice find it a mixed bag.

The greatest harm that you can do unto the envious, is to do well.

Don't you understand, mister, you are royalty and God has chosen you to be priest of your home?