A writer needs three things, experience, observation, and imagination, any two of which, at times any one of which, can supply the lack of the others.

It's a shame that the only thing a man can do for eight hours a day is work. He can't eat for eight hours; he can't drink for eight hours; he can't make love for eight hours. The only thing a man can do for eight hours is work.

I'm a failed poet. Maybe every novelist wants to write poetry first, finds he can't and then tries the short story which is the most demanding form after poetry. And failing at that, only then does he take up novel writing.

Unless you're ashamed of yourself now and then, you're not honest

In Europe, being an artist is a form of behavior; in America, it's an excuse for a form of behavior.

In Europe, being an artist is a form of behavior; in America, being an artist is an excuse for a form of behavior.