To Hell With Being Ashamed Of What

I Am Not Ashamed Of My Grandparents For Having Been Slaves. I Am Only Ashamed Of Myself For Having At One Time Being Ashamed.

Had The Price Of Looking Been Blindness, I Would Have Looked.

What And How Much Had I Lost By Trying To Do Only What Was Expected Of Me Instead Of What I Myself Had Wished To Do?

All Novels Are About Certain Minorities: The Individual Is A Minority. The Universal In The Novel-and Isn't That What We're All Clamoring For These Days?-is Reached Only Through The Depiction Of The Specific Man In A Specific Circumstance.

Every Serious Novel Is, Beyond Its Immediate Thematic Preoccupations, A Discussion Of The Craft, A Conquest Of The Form, A Conflict With Its Difficulties And A Pursuit Of Its Felicities And Beauty.