Writers, Like Most Human Beings, Are Adaptable

This Is Not A New World - It Is Simply An Extension Of What Began In The Old One. It Has Patterned Itself After Every Dictator Who Has Ever Planted The Ripping Imprint Of A Boot On The Pages Of History Since The Beginning Of Time. It Has Refinements...technological Advances...and A More Sophisticated Approach To The Destruction Of Human Freedom. But Like Everyone Of The Super-states That Preceded It - It Has One Iron Rule: Logic Is An Enemy And Truth Is A Menace.

(on Being Born On Christmas Day, 1924) I Was A Christmas Present That Was Delivered Unwrapped.

I Suppose We Think Euphemistically That All Writers Write Because They Have Something To Say That Is Truthful And Honest And Pointed And Important. And I Suppose I Subscribe To That, Too. But God Knows When I Look Back Over Thirty Years Of Professional Writing, I'm Hard-pressed To Come Up With Anything That's Important. Some Things Are Literate, Some Things Are Interesting, Some Things Are Classy, But Very Damn Little Is Important.

Apparently On The Screen I Look Tall, Ageless, And Damned Close To Omniscient-delivering Jeopardy-laden Warnings Through Gritted Teeth. But When People See Me On The Street, They Say 'by God, This Kid Is 5 Foot 5, He's Got A Broken Nose, And Looks About As Foreboding As A Bank Teller On A Lunch Break.'

I Don't Think It's Man's Function To Write. I Don't Think It's A Normal Thing Like Teeth-brushing And Going To The Bathroom. It's A Supered Position On The Animal.