Writing is thinking on paper.

Less is more.

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.

One of underestimated tasks in nonfiction writing is to impose narrative shape on an unwieldy mass of material.

The cowardly dog barks more violently than it bites.

unlove's the heavenless hell and homeless home . . . lovers alone wear sunlight.

Death accompanies us at every step and enables us to use those moments when life smiles at us to feel more deeply the sweetness of life. The more certain the end the more tempting the minute.

Marriage brings one into fatal connection with custom and tradition, and traditions and customs are like the wind and weather, altogether incalculable.

The state of man is inconstancy, ennui, anxiety.

Comedy is the most difficult thing to do. Easily the most difficult.

Beauties that from worth arise are like the grace of deities.

My favorite thing in the world was to make people sing - until I made people laugh. Then that became my favorite thing in the world.

I am now in a position to choose roles. I did not have so many offers before 'Queen', but now things have changed a lot.

Begin with the end in mind. Start with the end outcome and work backwards to make your dream possible.