Some Lines Worth Writing

One who writes from the mind and from the heart writes truer words than one who writes from experience or from known realities.

A man once said that the pen is mightier than the sword, I declare that the sword itself would be forgotten were it not for the pen.

If there is one thing I know about writing, it is to not try to write anything.

One may admire a thing without at all liking it.

Moby Dick is the most boring book which I have ever had the privilege to read. "Boring" is here intended as the highest form of compliment.

The duty of the Historian is to take up truths and clothe them in beautiful words. The duty of the novelist is to take up that which is not true and clothe it in beautiful words. The duty of the poet is to take up beauty and clothe it in beautiful words.

The proper duty of a reader is to make an effort to understand the author. A reader should not sit by and expect to understand merely by running his eyes over the pages.

I have never gotten on well with Robert Frost; his poems feel like he has put too much effort into them, which probably means he has not put enough effort into them.

College is at once a deadly bore, a glorious delight, a tremendous stress and great relaxation.

What is a novel but an author's dream on paper?

When I hold a pen I am conscious of it; I carry it as an affectation as one might wear a flower.

I am not anti-social; that would imply actively being not social, actively avoiding the company of others; I am simply non-social. I have no interest in going out of my way to be either social or anti-social.