James A. Michener Quotations

It was the silent time before dawn, along the shores of what had been one of the most beautiful lakes in southern Africa.

I think the bottom line is that if you get through a childhood like mine, it's not at all bad. Obviously, you come out a pretty tough turkey, and you have had all the inoculations you need to keep you on a level keel for the rest of your life. The sad part is, most of us don't come out.

I have only one bit of advice to beginning writers: be sure your novel is read by Rodgers and Hammerstein.

I had been educated with free scholarships. I went to nine different universities, always at public expense, and when you have that experience, you are almost obligated to give it back. It's as simple as that.

As a writer I have persisted in my uncertainty, alternating between novels which could charitably be considered literature and world reporting which by another stretch of objective standards might be called history.

A writer can make a fortune in America, but he can't make a living.

I've spent my life trying to be better than I was, and I am a brother to all who share the same aspiration.

I thought that perhaps the most creative mix for a society would be nine parts solid worker from institutions like MIT to one part poet from Marrakech, but in spite of the fact that I myself had been trained to be one of the solid workers, which meant that all of my sympathies lay with that group, I would not surrender the poet. The problem was to find him.

First buy a cowboy hat and boots. Then you're on your way to being a Texan.

The sense of belonging is one of the great gifts men get in battle.