Truth is, only the useless get to the top in this country.

A writer never forgets the first time he accepted a few coins or a word of praise in exchange for a story. He will never forget the sweet poison of vanity in his blood and the belief that, if he succeeds in not letting anyone discover his lack of talent, the dream of literature will provide him with a roof over his head, a hot meal at the end of the day, and what he covets the most: his name printed on a miserable piece of paper that surely will outlive him. A writer is condemned to remember that moment, because from then on he is doomed and his soul has a price.

I wondered what on earth she saw in me that could make her want to befriend me, other than a pale reflection of herself, an echo of solitude and loss. In my ..reveries, we were always two fugitives riding on the spine of a book, eager to escape into worlds of fiction and second hand dreams

While you're working, you don't have to look life in the eye.

A Gentleman's agreement cannot be broken without breaking the person who has entered into it.

I could tell you it's the heart, but what is really killing him is loneliness. Memories are worse than bullets.

Time goes faster the more hollow it is. Lives with no meaning go straight past you, like trains that don’t stop at your station.