There is a similarity between juggling and composing on the typewriter. The trick is, when you spill something, make it look like a part of the act.
Hawaii made the mouth of her soul water.
Sharks are the criminals of the sea. Dolphins are the outlaws.
Cant you understand that romanticism is no more an enemy of science than mysticism is? In fact, romanticism and science are good for each other. The scientist keeps the romantic honest and the romantic keeps the scientist human.
Heaven is living in your hopes and Hell is living in your fears. It’s up to each individual which one he chooses.
Now that I’m in love, I haven’t a clue. Now that I’m in love, I’m completely stupid on the subject.
Dreams don’t come true. Dreams are true.
My life is not merely a public phenomenon, it is a solitary adventure as well.
Some praise me, some blame me. I go the other way. Sometimes those things that attract the most attention to us are the things which afford us the greatest privacy.
John Irving once told me he doesn’t start a novel until he knows the last sentence. I said, ‘My God, Irving, isn’t that like working in a factory?’
Most Americans pay lip service to the idea of freedom, but can’t handle real freedom.
Don’t be outraged, be outrageous.
Life’s an offensive proposition from beginning to end. Maybe those who can’t tolerate offense ought to just go ahead and end it all, and maybe those who demand financial compensation for offense ought to have it ended for them.
I am looking for the novelists whose writing is an extension of their intellect rather than an extension of their neurosis.
If little else, the brain is an educational toy.
Reality is contradictory. And it’s paradoxical.
Survival is not important. What matters is how you survive.
Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won’t adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is sign on as its accomplice.
I like travelers, but I don’t like tourists. The difference is that travelers don’t shop and they don’t play golf.
Fire is the reuniting of matter with oxygen. If one bears that in mind, every blaze may be seen as a reunion, an occasion of chemical joy.