“I feel almost a blood relationship with all the artists in all the mediums, for I find that we face the same problems but solve them in our own ways. When young people in my writing classes, for example, ask what subjects they should study to become writers, I surprise them by replying: ‘Ceramics and eurhythmic dancing.’ When they look surprised I explain: ‘Ceramics so you can feel form evolving through your fingertips molding the moist clay, and eurhythmic dancing so you can experience the flow of motion through your body. You might develop a sense of freedom that way.’”

“If an aspiring writer assures me that he or she received A’s in English I am not impressed, because anyone ought to be able to get an A in English. But if she or he says: ‘I received an A in architecture,’ I feel there might be potential in that person because I can assume the speaker has a feeling for form, which is the sense of balance that is essential for both a building and a novel to create a vibrant impression.” – James Michener, from This Noble Land, ch. 10