There is first the literature of knowledge, and secondly, the
literature of power. The function of the first is--to read more

There is first the literature of knowledge, and secondly, the
literature of power. The function of the first is--to teach; the
function of the second is--to move, the first is a rudder, the
second an oar or a sail. The first speaks to the mere discursive
understanding; the second speaks ultimately, it may happen, to
the higher understanding or reason, but always through affections
of pleasure and sympathy.
- Thomas De Quincey ("The Opium Eater"),

You can't teach a hunter it's wrong to kill.

You can't teach a hunter it's wrong to kill.

You, the Spirit of the Settlement! ... Not understand that America is God's crucible, the great melting-pot where all the read more

You, the Spirit of the Settlement! ... Not understand that America is God's crucible, the great melting-pot where all the races of Europe are melting and re-forming! Here, you stand, good folk, think I, when I see them at Ellis Island, here you stand in your fifty groups, with your fifty languages and histories, and your fifty blood hatreds and rivalries... - Melting Pot, The.

All that non-fiction can do is answer questions. It's fiction's business to ask them.

All that non-fiction can do is answer questions. It's fiction's business to ask them.

Everywhere I go, I'm asked if the universities stifle writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them.

Everywhere I go, I'm asked if the universities stifle writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them.

Beneath the rule of men entirely great, / The pen is mightier than the sword.

Beneath the rule of men entirely great, / The pen is mightier than the sword.

After all, all he did was string together a lot of old, well-known quotations.

After all, all he did was string together a lot of old, well-known quotations.

Good children's literature appeals not only to the child in the adult, but to the adult in the child.

Good children's literature appeals not only to the child in the adult, but to the adult in the child.

When I give a lecture, I accept that people look at their watches, but what I do not tolerate is read more

When I give a lecture, I accept that people look at their watches, but what I do not tolerate is when they look at it and raise it to their ear to find out if it stopped.