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Courage is a sort of insistence on the value of life and the worth of transient things.

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I could never be a Communist. I could never be regimented. I could never be told what to write.

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We have reached a censorship barrier in Infidelity, to our infinite disappointment. It won’t be Joan’s [Joan Crawford's] next picture and we are setti...more

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Artistic temperament is like a king with vigor and unlimited opportunity. You shake the structure to pieces by playing with it.

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Art invariably grows out of a period when, in general, the artist admires his own nation and wants to win its approval.

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Understand now, I'm purely a fiction writer and do not profess to be an earnest student of political science, but I believe strongly that such a law a...more

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Communism as I see it has no place in the United States, and the American people will not stand for its teachings.

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Now, Max, I have told you many times that you are my publisher, and permanently, as far as one can fling about the word in this too mutable world....T...more

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Riches have never fascinated me, unless combined with the greatest charm or distinction.

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The important thing is that you should not argue with them [Communists]....Whatever you say, they have ways of twisting it into shapes which put you i...more

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A writer must find his own grain, way, bent. ...He aspires to create new and original works. His way is alone. If he succumbs to ideologies, he turns ...more

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This general eclipse of ambition and determination and fortitude, all of the very qualities on which I have prided myself, is ridiculous, and, I must ...more

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The clean book bill will be one of the most immoral measures ever adopted. It will throw American art back into the junk heap.

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For what it's worth: it's never too late to be whoever you want to be. I hope you live a life you're proud of, and if you find you're not, I hope you ...more

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Work like hell! I had 122 rejection slips before I sold a story.