A man of such obvious and exemplary charm must be a liar.

I need noise and interruptions and irritation: irritation and discomfort are a great starter. The loneliness of doing it any other way would kill me.

Great writers are the saints for the godless.

The lessons taught in great books are misleading. The commerce in life is rarely so simple and never so just.

Good women always think it is their fault when someone else is being offensive. Bad women never take the blame for anything.

Dr Weiss, at forty, knew that her life had been ruined by literature.

For once a thing is known, it can never be unknown. It can only be forgotten.