Writing offers fairly large rewards to a few successful people, but the rewards come late, and most writers are failures.

- Malcolm Cowley

Age is not different from earlier life as long as you're sitting down

- Malcolm Cowley

The germ of a story is a new and simple element introduced into an existing situation or mood.

- Malcolm Cowley

Put cotton in your ears and pebbles in your shoes. Pull on rubber gloves. Smear Vaseline over your glasses, and there you have it: instant old age.

- Malcolm Cowley

I never cease to be amazed why some of my friends became famous and others, just as talented, didn't. I've come to suspect it's a matter of wanting f…

- Malcolm Cowley

They tell you that you'll lose your mind when you grow older. What they don't tell you is that you won't miss it very much.

- Malcolm Cowley

Talent is what you possess; genius is what possesses you.

- Malcolm Cowley

It is the fear of being as dependent as a young child, while not being loved as a child is loved, but merely being kept alive against one's will.

- Malcolm Cowley

Authors are sometimes like tomcats: They distrust all the other toms but they are kind to kittens

- Malcolm Cowley