James A. Michener

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

Whenever I start a book, I swear it's going to be a short one. But then it's, 'Who was his grandfather? And how did he get there in the first place? And what kind of animals is he chasing?'

Honest to God, I do all the research on these books myself.

I know the world of opera so intimately: historical sweep, sharply defined characters, not too rational an explanation of what's going on. It's a feast.

When I first pitched my Navy tent on the island of Espiritu Santo to the north of Vila, the natives on nearby Malakula were cannibals. Today, they have representation in the United Nations.

I missed a whole cycle of childhood, but I've never used it as a device for self-pity.

Very early on in life, I decided the hell with it: material things weren't for me. Christmas would come, and other kids would have all these presents, and it wouldn't bother me a bit.

If I were a young man today, I might be lured into the moviemaking industry. You can really make a statement there.

I attended seminars where many social issues were discussed abstractly, outside the pressures of an immediate situation, and there I developed certain attitudes which permitted me to face the real thing when it came along.

I can't remember how old I was, maybe 13, 14, and to see these fellows and hear their stories and to see life come to such a drab ending - my God, a poorhouse in those days was something. You would have to be inert not to respond to it.

I am the product of the American education system. It is a system that has always been on the lookout for bright boys and girls. It spotted me when I was 14, and I owe a tremendous debt to my alma mater.

Whatever I did, there was always someone around who was better qualified. They just didn't bother to do it.

If you type adeptly with 10 fingers, you're typing faster than your mind is working.

I was brought up in the great tradition of the late nineteenth century: that a writer never complains, never explains and never disdains.

I think the crucial thing in the writing career is to find what you want to do and how you fit in. What somebody else does is of no concern whatever except as an interesting variation.

The really great writers are people like Emily Bronte who sit in a room and write out of their limited experience and unlimited imagination.

I was a Navy officer writing about Navy problems and I simply stole this lovely Army nurse and popped her into a Navy uniform, where she has done very well for herself.

They were a group of two dozen nurses completely surrounded by 100,000 unattached American men.

A person on dialysis undergoes very heavy and irritating treatment, and in time, it seems more than you can bear.

If there was a turning point for me, it was 'The Bridges at Toko-Ri.' It is a very fine short novel. But it gave me very little satisfaction. Really. I decided I wasn't going to go down that avenue.