The Principle Of Art Is To Pause,

There's A Place Beyond Words Where Experience First Occurs To Which I Always Want To Return. I Suspect That Whenever I Articulate My Thoughts Or Translate My Impulses Into Words, I Am Betraying The Real Thoughts And Impulses Which Remain Hidden.

I Am Curious About Grownups, Not Children.

Chance Was To Work In The Garden, Where He Would Care For Plants And Grasses And Trees Which Grew There Peacefully. He Would Be As One On Them: Quiet, Open Hearted In The Sunshine And Heavy When It Rained.

I Can Create Countries Just As I Can Create The Actions Of My Characters. That Is Why A Lot Of Travel Seems To Me A Waste Of Time.

Can The Imagination, Any More Than The Boy, Be Held Prisoner ?" - From The Foreword To The 1976 Edition Of "the Painted Bird