“Saepe stilum vertas, iterum quae digna legi sint scripturus. Often must you turn your pencil to erase, if you hope to write something worth a second reading.”

“You must write for yourself, above all. That is your only hope of creating something beautiful.”

“You must write, and read, as if your life depended on it.”

“If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are gone, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing.”

“If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.”

“A story with no moral isn't worth writing; a story with no plot isn't worth reading. And if people get your point before they get your story, you are to hire a soapbox instead.”

“I have rewritten — often several times — every word I have ever published. My pencils outlast their erasers.”

“No one on earth is so boring and insignificant that he or she is not worth writing or reading about… One thing's for sure—no one but you can be the hero of your story.”

“When I erase a word with a pencil, where does it go?”

“Once you learn what life is about, there is no way to erase that knowledge. If you try to do something else with your life, you will always sense that you are missing something”