From The Writer’s Life:


On inspiration:

“I am going to write because I cannot help it.”

—Charlotte Brontë

On fame:

“I dream that my face appears on a postage stamp.”

—John Cheever

On sex:

“In petting there is no Mason-Dixon Line.”

—Delmore Schwartz

On keeping a journal:

“Writing in a journal means that facing your ocean you are afraid to swim across it, so you attempt to drink it drop by drop.”

—George Sand