The essayist is a self-liberated man, sustained by the childish belief that everything he thinks about, everything that happens to him, is of general interest.

The great play is yet unwritten; the great novel beats with futile hands against the portals of my brain.

Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the opinion of others.

Whenever I'm asked what kind of writing is the most lucrative, I have to say, ransom notes.

A writer should concern himself with whatever absorbs his fancy, stirs his heart, and unlimbers his typewriter. ... A writer has the duty to be good, not lousy: true, not false; lively, not dull; accurate, not full of error. He should tend to lift people up, not lower them down.

Talent alone cannot make a writer. There must be a man behind the book.

If you would be a reader, read; if a writer, write.

The most beautiful things are those that madness prompts and reason writes.

I needed to live, but I also needed to record what I lived.

Word by word the book is made.