To be misunderstood can be the writer's punishment for having disturbed the reader's peace. The greater the disturbance, the greater the possibility of misunderstanding.

The contents of someone's bookcase are part of his history, like an ancestral portrait.

Two people making love, she once said, are like one drowned person resuscitating the other.

When friends stop being frank and useful to each other, the whole world loses some of its radiance.

A bookcase is as good as a view, as much of a panorama as the sight of a city or a river. There are dawns and sunsets in books - storms and zephyrs.

The more I like a book, the more slowly I read. this spontaneous talking back to a book is one of the things that makes reading so valuable.

The moment a book is lent I begin to miss it.