The persons whom you cannot care for in a novel, because they are so bad, are the very same that you so dearly love in your life, because they are so good.

Never think that you're not good enough. A man should never think that. People will take you very much at your own reckoning.

A novelist's characters must be with him as he lies down to sleep, and as he wakes from his dreams. He must learn to hate them and to love them.

Never think that you're not good enough. A man should never think that. People will take you very much at your own reckoning.

I do like a little romance... just a sniff, as I call it, of the rocks and valleys. Of course, bread-and-cheese is the real thing. The rocks and valleys are no good at all, if you haven't got that.

You can't help parts of yourself leaking into other characters.