Was the whole matter of aptitudes a myth – a copout used by people like me to avoid subjects that would force us to think inTherefore threatening ways?

Less is more.

Writing is thinking on paper.

Clutter is the disease of American writing. We are a society strangling in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills, and meaningless jargon.

Hard writing makes easy reading. Easy writing makes hard reading.

Four basic premises of writing: clarity, brevity, simplicity, and humanity.

When you're ready to stop, stop. If you have presented all the facts and made the point you want to make, look for the nearest exit.

I almost always urge people to write in the first person. ... Writing is an act of ego and you might as well admit it.

Thought is action in rehearsal.

A clear sentence is no accident.

If the nails are weak, your house will collapse. If your verbs are weak and your syntax is rickety, your sentences will fall apart.

I like a cook who smiles out loud when he tastes his own work.Let God worry about your modesty I want to see your enthusiasm.

People can't be just tied together. They have to connect. Otherwise, they'll find themselves bound hand and foot.

Stop thinking of failing.

Do some good to the ghetto, Mr. Kris Kringle. Come and stay awhile, kick it with God's Angels. Take and acknowledge my wisdom and understand That Santa Claus is a black man.

The individual is losing significance; his destiny is no longer what interests us.

The neurotic doesn't know how to cope with his emotional bills; some he keeps paying over and over, others he never pays at all.

I think, in general, it's better not to respond to reviews of your work.

I think any time you play your first NHL game, you remember that.

In the Wu Tzu it says: 'He who would save his life shall lose it, and he who would give up his life shall save it.'

The nature of men and women - their essential nature - is so vile and despicable that if you were to portray a person as he really is, no one would believe you.