I write every morning. From about a quarter to nine to a quarter to one. It might be nine to one, or 8:30 to 12:30.

I think to be driven to want to kill must be such a terrible burden.

We always know when we are awake that we cannot be dreaming even though when actually dreaming we feel all this may be real.

It is not so much true that the world loves a lover as that the lover loves all the world.

The trouble with psychology is that it doesn't take human nature into account.

To say that Agatha Christie’s characters are cardboard cut-outs is an insult to cardboard cut-outs.

I get a lot of letters from people. They say "I want to be a writer. What should I do?" I tell them to stop writing to me and to get on with it.

I think about death every day - what it would be like, why it would happen to me. It would be humiliating to be afraid.

Some say life is the thing, but I prefer reading.

The knives of jealousy are honed on details.

Many emotions go under the name of love, and almost any one of them will for a while divert the mind from the real, true, and perfect thing.

Loneliness is remedied at times with the company of a friend and at other times with the company of oneself.

I am groping about through this American forest of prejudice and proscription, determined to find some form of civilization where all men will be accepted for what they are worth.

Fairy tales are such evil little stories for young children.

It was exactly the sort of thing I needed to be reading that afternoon: a story where, no matter how bad things got, you knew everything was going to turn out fine in the end.

If your religion doesn't teach you the difference between good and evil, your religion is worse than useless.

You may wish me luck, or curse me for a damnable pirate, but do not look for me. I will be gone to parts beyond the sea.

Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury; the time spent engaged in it is not time that could be better spent in more formal educational pursuits. Play is a necessity.

The whole value of the dime is in knowing what to do with it.

He who wants to become a Bhakta must be strong, must be healthy.

I know that luck has a way of happening to people who shoot high, who never sell themselves short.