Writing a novel is a terrible experience, during which the hair often falls out and the teeth decay.

You will have found Christ when you are concerned with other people’s sufferings and not your own.

You shall know the truth, and it will make you odd.

The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.

Right now the whole world seems to be going through a dark night of the soul.

Whenever I’m asked why Southern writers particularly have a penchant for writing about freaks, I say it is because we are still able to recognize one.

...you have to cherish the world at the same time that you struggle to endure it.

What people don’t realize is how much religion costs. They think faith is a big electric blanket, when of course it is the cross.

[To] know oneself is, above all, to know what one lacks. It is to measure oneself against Truth, and not the other way around. The first product of self-knowledge is humility . . .

It is the business of the artist to uncover the strangeness of truth

I don't deserve any credit for turning the other cheek as my tongue is always in it.

Your destiny is connected with your calling

For me, every book is an individual with its own identity and has to be nurtured and taken care of, so that it may survive for a longer period.

You miss all the possibilities of winning if you don't participate

Exceptional leaders are fearless in setting expectations in clear language.

It is neither right nor safe to go against my conscience.

Envy is the art of counting the other fellow's blessings instead of your own.

Much is written about the Batman because he is publicly exposed in print. Very little is known personally about his creator, because I haven't given out that many interviews.

How much does it cost to entice a dope-smoking UNIX system guru to Dayton?

I flatter myself [we] have in this country extinguished forever the ambitious hope of making laws for the human mind.

Tell me about the rains that washed and wore you down. About the travels you took to find yourself and how you left a part of you in every place, yet somehow always came back more complete.