There are some people who have been reading me for years, and they keep saying kind things about the writing. That's what you're writing for, to get people to respond to it.

I spent most of my dough on booze, broads and boats and the rest I wasted.

My most important piece of advice to all you would-be writers: When you write, try to leave out all the parts readers skip.

If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it. Or, if proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. I can't allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative.

The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in.

What do you tell a man with two black eyes? Nothing, he's already been told twice.

It doesn't have to make sense, it just has to sound like it does.

Using adverbs is a mortal sin.

At the time I begin writing a novel, the last thing I want to do is follow a plot outline. To know too much at the start takes the pleasure out of discovering what the book is about.

Try not to write the parts that people skip.

All the information you need can be given in dialogue.

Grace me dijo eso de que los abogados no saben de amor, menos uno de divorcios.

Six nervous wives at the sink, each quiet as a queen on a chessboard.

I have never met a dog I couldn't help; however, I have met humans who weren't willing to change.

I started out on guitar when I was nine years old, and I started playing bars and stuff when I was thirteen, and I've been playing ever since.

I'll start drinking tea over coffee when the big hand is on Never and the little hand is on Ain't Gonna Happen.

Learn diligence before speedy execution.

Companies that get confused, that think their goal is revenue or stock price or something. You have to focus on the things that lead to those.

We are the folk song army, every one of us cares. We all hate poverty, war, and injustice unlike the rest of you squares.

The world is a courtroom, but your life is the judge.

You can do anything to my food and I'll still eat it.