"Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout with some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand."
"At 50, everyone has the face he deserves."
"To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle."
"If people cannot write well, they cannot think well, and if they cannot think well, others will do their thinking for them."
"In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
"Every generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it."