Emily was feeling the elation of conscientious hosts when they can temporarily escape a ubiquitous houseguest.

The secret of literature, which conventional people don't guess, is that writers are forever looking for the surprising revelation - not for reinforcement of collective wisdom.

Apprenticeship is one of the dearest roles of childhood, not just watching Dad or Mother, but being taught a hands-on trade.

The principle of literature is devotion to the particulars of life.

Unlike lions and dogs, we are a dissenting animal. We need to dissent in the same way that we need to travel, to make money, to keep a record of our time on earth and in dream, and to leave a permanent mark. Dissension is a drive, like those drives.

It is very difficult to teach navigation theory to someone who clings to the shore.

No work of literature is the product of only one or two conscious ideas. A story is mysteriously dense of meaning.