I hate the actor and audience business. An author should be in among the crowd, kicking their shins or cheering them on to some mischief or merriment.

I can't bear art that you can walk round and admire. A book should be either a bandit or a rebel or a man in the crowd.

The proper function of the critic is to save the tale from the artist who created it.

God how I hate new countries: They are older than the old, more sophisticated, much more conceited, only young in a certain puerile vanity more like senility than anything.

He's motioning to the audience as if asking them, 'Should I do it?' And they're cheering him on.

I hold that the parentheses are by far the most important parts of a non-business letter.