Clocks slay time... time is dead as long as it is being clicked off by little wheels; only when the clock stops does time come to life.

The past is never dead. It's not even past.

A man is the sum of his misfortunes. One day you'd think misfortune would get tired but then time is your misfortune

In my time I have seen truth that was anything under the sun but just, and I have seen justice using tools and instruments I wouldn't want to touch with a 10-foot fence rail.

It's a shame that the only thing a man can do for eight hours a day is work. He can't eat for eight hours; he can't drink for eight hours; he can't make love for eight hours. The only thing a man can do for eight hours is work.

I'm a failed poet. Maybe every novelist wants to write poetry first, finds he can't and then tries the short story which is the most demanding form after poetry. And failing at that, only then does he take up novel writing.