Related:

• The author: an imaginary person who writes real books. -- Edward Abbey
• Death is every man's final critic. To die well you must live bravely. -- Edward Abbey
• There comes a point, in literary objectivity, when the author's self- effacement is hard to distinguish from moral cowardice.
  -- Edward Abbey...
• Any hack can safely rail away at foreign powers beyond the sea
  but a good writer is a critic of the society he lives in. -- Edward Abbey...
• Literary critics, like a herd of cows or a school of fish, always face in the same direction, obeying that love for unity that every critic requires.
  -- Edward Abbey...
• Like any writer, I'd rather be read than dead. Like any serious *author*, I'd rather be dead than not read at all.
  -- Edward Abbey...
• Perfection is a minor virtue. -- Edward Abbey
• Simplicity is always a virtue. -- Edward Abbey
• Like hearts of oak.
  -- Francis Rabelais (1495-1553) -- Works, The Author's Prologue to the Fifth Book...