The worst mistakes I've made have been the ones directed by sweet-natured hopefulness.

My God, the corruptions of literature. It put all these notions into our heads.

At its best, fiction is not a diversion but a means of knowing the world.

When you break the heart of the philosopher, you must apply great force and cunning strategy, but when the deed is completed, the heart lies in great stony ruin at your feet. If you succeed in breaking it, the job is done once and for all. It will not be repaired.

Try to get your characters into interesting trouble. Allow your characters to misbehave. Let them stay out after 11.

Gainfully unemployed, very proud of it, too.

Before, I was always trying to make my relationships work by means of willpower and forced affability. This time I didn't have to strive for anything. A quality of ease spread over us.