“Writers are the exorcists of their own demons.”

“No two cases are the same. Some patients have to be tied down on a bed. They spit. They vomit. At first the demon will try to demoralise the exorcist, then he will try to terrify him, saying, 'Tonight I'm going to put a serpent between your sheets. Tomorrow I'm going to eat your heart.'”

“Prison always has been a good place for writers, killing, as it does, the twin demons of mobility and diversion”

“Awake. And alone with demons of my own.”

“The majority of the people create their own demons. Therefore, the real demon is your mindset and your ability to imagine.”

“There is nothing to fear except the power you give to your own demons.”

“Any writer worth his salt writes to please himself… It's a self-exploratory operation that is endless. An exorcism of not necessarily his demon, but of his divine discontent.”

“The demon of drink was as black as the demon of play, and nearly as hard to get rid of — especially as his kind friends did all they could to second the promptings of his own insatiable cravings.”

“It's only when a man tames his own demons that he becomes the king of himself if not of the world.”

“But you can vanquish the demons only when you yourself are convinced of your own worth.”