It is exciting and emancipating to believe we are one of nature's latest experiments, but what if the experiment is unsuccessful?

The profoundly humorous writers are humorous because they are responsive to the hopeless, uncouth concatenations of life.

A touch of science, even bogus science, gives an edge to the superstitious tale.

We are used to the actions of human beings, not to their stillness.

The businessman who is a novelist is able to drop in on literature and feel no suicidal loss of esteem if the lady is not at home, and he can spend his life preparing without fuss for the awful interview.

It is the role of the poet to look at what is happening in the world and to know that quite other things are happening.

How extraordinary it is that one feels most guilt about the sins one is unable to commit.