I discovered that rejections are not altogether a bad thing. They teach a writer to rely on his own judgment and to say in his heart of hearts, 'To hell with you.'

A good American makes propaganda for whatever existence has forced him to become.

Any artist should be grateful for a naive grace which puts him beyond the need to reason elaborately.

Human beings can lose their lives in libraries. They ought to be warned.

God damn it, you might think a man had no business to be writing, to be a poet unless some philosophic stinker gave him permission.

'I think the music business will eventually crush me, but I [smiles]... I'm ready.' - in Strange Parallel

I regard criticism as an art, and if in this country and in this age it is practiced with honesty, it is no more remunerative than the work of an avant-garde f…