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

One loses the capacity to grieve as a child grieves, or to rage as a child rages: hotly, despairingly, with tears of passion. One grows up, one becomes civilized, one learns one's manners, and consequently can no longer manage these two functions - sorrow and anger - adequately.

Writing has freed me from the despair of living.

You can never betray the people who are dead.

In real life, it is the hare who wins. Every time. Look around you. And in any case it is my contention that Aesop was writing for the tortoise market. Hares have no time to read. They are too busy winning the game.

Existentialism is about being a saint without God; being your own hero, without all the sanction and support of religion or society.

I suppose what one wants really is ideal company and books are ideal company.