“I became an art major, took every art class my school had to offer. In college, I majored in Advertising Art and Design.”

“Were there stories I wrote along the way that were terrible clinkers? God, yes. But they were all a product of their time, and I did the best I could.”

“It's all about who's where on the food chain. When I'm the story editor, I expect my writers to follow my vision. When I'm working for another editor, I'm obliged to follow their vision.”

“If a story isn't working, I'm simply unable to finish it. That's what usually tells me something is wrong.”

“Lord of the Rings, I think, is far and away the most brilliantly done stuff.”

“Assume a virtue if you have it not.”

“Best men oft are moulded out of faults.”

“Mend when thou canst; be better at thy leisure.”

“My endeavorsHave ever come too short of my desires.Yet filed with my abilities.”

“To climb steep hills requires a slow pace at first.”

“...lest too light winning make the prize light.”

“Good wine needs no bush.”

“Take pains. Be perfect.”

“Still constant is a wondrous excellence.”

“Cities give us collision. 'Tis said, London and New York take the nonsense out of a man.”

“Life must be lived on a higher plane. We must go up to a higher platform, to which we are always invited to ascend; there, the whole aspect of things changes.”

“Be not the slave of your own past - plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far.”