I can walk into a bookstore and hand over my credit card and they don't know who the hell I am. Maybe that says something about bookstore clerks. E. L. Doctorow
In the twentieth century one of the most personal relationships to have developed is that of the person and the state. It's become a fact of life that governments have become very intimate with people, most always to their detriment. E. L. Doctorow
Planning to write is not writing. Outlining, researching, talking to people about what you're doing, none of that is writing. Writing is writing. E. L. Doctorow
The writer isn't made in a vacuum. Writers are witnesses. The reason we need writers is because we need witnesses to this terrifying century. E. L. Doctorow
Writers are not just people who sit down and write. They hazard themselves. Every time you compose a book your composition of yourself is at stake. E. L. Doctorow