Dictatorships are one-way streets. Democracy boasts two-way traffic.

Every true writer is like a bird; he repeats the same song, the same theme, all his life. For me, this theme as always been revolt.

Loyalty, Signor Molteni, not love. Penelope is loyal to Ulysses but we do not know how far she loved him...and as you know people can sometimes be absolutely loyal without loving. In certain cases, in fact, loyalty is form of vengeance, of black-mail, of recovering one's self-respect. Loyalty, not love.

I don't think it's possible to write a good novel around a negative personality.

When you aren't sincere you need to pretend, and by pretending you end up believing yourself; that's the basic principle of every faith.

...my boredom might be described as a malady affecting external objects and consisting of a withering process; an almost instantaneous loss of vitality--just as though one saw a flower change in a few seconds from a bud to decay and dust.

You can't think on purpose about somebody or something. Either you think about them naturally or you don't think at all.