"Abstract words such as glory, honor, courage, or hallow were obscene beside the concrete names of villages, the numbers of roads, the names of rivers, the numbers of regiments and the dates."

"Man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated."

"There are some things that cannot be learned quickly, and time, which is all we have, must be paid heavily for their acquiring."

"I have a good life but I must write because if I do not write a certain amount I do not enjoy the rest of my life."

"All my life I've looked at words as though I were seeing them for the first time."