Is it possible to say "It was a beautiful morning at the end of November" without feeling like Snoopy?

When the writer (or the artist in general) says he has worked without giving any thought to the rules of the process, he simply means he was working without realizing he knew the rules.

I felt like poisoning a monk.

The author should die once he has finished writing. So as not to trouble the path of the text.

I wrote a novel because I had a yen to do it. I believe this is sufficient reason to set out to tell a story.

Thus I rediscovered what writers have always known (and have told us again and again): books always speak of other books, and every story tells a story that has already been told.

I lacked the courage to investigate the weaknesses of the wicked, because I discovered they are the same as the weaknesses of the saintly.

The fine thing about pacts with the devil is that when you sign them you are well aware of their conditions. Otherwise, why would you be recompensed with hell?

After all, the fundamental question of philosophy (like that of psychoanalysis) is the same as the question of the detective novel: who is guilty?

There is no growth except in the fulfillment of obligations.

If all but myself were blind, I should want neither a fine house nor fine furniture.

Nature has made all her truths independent of one another. Our art makes one dependent on the other. But this is not natural. Each keeps its own place.

Ambitious princes value inherited kingdoms not so much as conquered provinces.

Your ability to use mind whatever way you choose is outrageous. Much will depend upon how intensely you approach the study and the state of mind in which you begin.

Reaganism is not only at odds with the Judeo-Christian heritage, it will not work.

All my mates are at university, and it's a life I haven't had a chance to enjoy, so it's great to turn up and sample a bit of it.

To play for a draw (at any rate with White) is to some degree a crime against chess.

I want to be perfect. I don't want to fail. And you always fail.

I'm confident and I trust my instincts.