Writing is the most demanding of callings, more harrowing than a warrior's, more lonely than a whaling captain's-that, in essence, is the modern writer's message.

Once we thought, journalists and readers alike, that if we put together enough "facts" and gave them a fast stir, we would come up with something that, at least by the standards of short-order cooks, could be called the truth.

A man's work is his dilemma: his job is his bondage, but it also gives him a fair share of his identity and keeps him from being a bystander in somebody else's world.

It is beyond the imagination of the menu-maker that there are people in the world who breakfast on a single egg.

Cary Grant, born Archie Leach, was a poor boy who could barely spell posh. That's acting for you-or maybe Hollywood.

Watching baseball under the lights is like observing dogs indoors, at a pedigree show. In both instances, the environment is too controlled to suit the species.