A book is meant not only to be read, but to haunt you, to importune you like a lover or a parent, to be in your teeth like a piece of gristle.

We are all tourists in history, and irony is what we win in wars.

The first divorce in the world may have been a tragedy, but the hundred-millionth is not necessarily one.

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.

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

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

If a book is really good, it deserves to be read again, and if it's great, it should be read at least three times.