Either a writer doesn't want to talk about his work, or he talks about it more than you want.

I feel about lending a book the way most fathers feel about their daughters living with a man out of wedlock.

The more I like a book, the more reluctant I am to turn the page. Lovers, even book lovers, tend to cling. No one-night stands or "reads" for them.

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.

Travel is like adultery: one is always tempted to be unfaithful to one's own country. To have imagination is inevitably to be dissatisfied with where you live. There is in men, as Peter Quennell said, "a centrifugal tendency." In our wanderlust, we are lovers looking for consummation.

We don't simply read books. We become them.

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