Language achieves soul only when it's applied as a tool, used by those who imbue it with what they have read more

Language achieves soul only when it's applied as a tool, used by those who imbue it with what they have had the courage and honesty to perceive and feel.

I put all my genius into my life; I put only my talent into my works.

I put all my genius into my life; I put only my talent into my works.

Most people are unable to write because they are unable to think, and they are unable to think because they read more

Most people are unable to write because they are unable to think, and they are unable to think because they congenitally lack the equipment to do so, just as they congenitally lack the equipment to fly over the moon.

Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for love, and then for a few close friends, and then for read more

Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for love, and then for a few close friends, and then for money.

Writing is a form of personal freedom. It frees us from the mass identity we see in the making all read more

Writing is a form of personal freedom. It frees us from the mass identity we see in the making all around us. In the end, writers will write not to be outlaw heroes of some underculture but mainly to save themselves, to survive as individuals.

The important thing in writing is the capacity to astonish. Not shock - shock is a worn-out word - but read more

The important thing in writing is the capacity to astonish. Not shock - shock is a worn-out word - but astonish.

Writing eases my suffering... writing is my way of reaffirming my own existence.

Writing eases my suffering... writing is my way of reaffirming my own existence.

Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with, it is a toy and an amusement; then it becomes a read more

Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with, it is a toy and an amusement; then it becomes a mistress, and then it becomes a master, and then a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster, and fling him out to the public.

A great value of antiquity lies in the fact that its writings are the only ones that modern men still read more

A great value of antiquity lies in the fact that its writings are the only ones that modern men still read with exactness.