“Misfortune shows those who are not really friends.”

“Poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular.”

“The greatest thing by far is to have a command of metaphor. This alone cannot be imparted by another; it is the mark of genius, for to make good metaphors implies an eye for resemblances.”

“A friend is one soul abiding in two bodies.”

“Hope is the dream of a waking man.”

“The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousandfold.”

“Books are the mirrors of the soul.”

“Fiction is like a spider's web, attached ever so lightly perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners.”

“A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.”

“When I'm writing, I am trying to find out who I am, who we are, what we're capable of, how we feel, how we lose and stand up, and go on from darkness into darkness.”

“You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”

“You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.”