I sometimes feel I'm a sort of cult writer, rather than a mainstream writer, in that those who like my stuff like it a lot, but the appeal is not that broad.

Only in art will the lion lie down with the lamb, and the rose grow without thorn.

Religious belief is without reason and without dignity, and its record is near-universally dreadful.

Probably human cruelty is fixed and eternal. Only styles change.

My life looked good on paper - where, in fact, almost all of it was being lived.

When the past is forgotten, the present is unforgettable

Closure is a greasy little word which, moreover, describes a nonexistent condition. The truth, Venus, is that nobody gets over anything.

Perhaps there are other bits of my life that would take on content, take on shadow, if only I read more and thought less about money.

When you’ve lost all your play, guess what love becomes. Work. Work that gets harder every hour.

Love is blind; but it makes you see the blind man; teetering on the roadside . . .

Every 10 years you're a different person, and the really great books evolve with you as you get older. They're full of new rewards.

W might 'conquer' nature if we could first, or at the same time, conquer our own nature, though we do not see that human nature and 'outside' nature are all of a piece.

When a goal is badly stated or it does not exist at all, our sub- conscious will automatically conceive it as unreachable, as impossible as to find a solution for something that does not exist

You’ll never have a positive life by thinking negatively.

There is one thought for the field, another for the house. I would have my thoughts, like wild apples, to be food for walkers, and will not warrant them to be palatable if tasted in the house.

Thank you guys. Thank you for never giving up on me.

I've always put myself intensely into my work.

Pray on all occasions." Unlocked page 38.

Using telephones, they would be so intrusive and would really disrupt the show.

Love of country follows from the exercise of its freedoms, not from pride in its fleets or its armies.

If you make listening and observation your occupation you will gain much more than you can by talk.