You begin saving the world by saving one man at a time; all else is grandiose romanticism or politics.

The human heart, as of course we all know is essentially good

The blankets had fallen off and I stared down at her white back, the shoulder blades sticking out as if they wanted to grow into wings, poke through that skin. Little blades. She was helpless.

News travels fast in places where nothing much ever happens.

I got lost somehow, began staring up her legs. I was always a leg man. It was the first thing I saw when I was born. But then I was trying to get out. Ever since I have been working in the other direction and with pretty lousy luck.

they simply never understand, do they, that sometimes solitude is one of the most beautiful things on earth?

That was the trouble with being a writer, that was the main trouble—leisure time, excessive leisure time. You had to wait around for the buildup until you could write and while you were waiting you went crazy, and while you were going crazy you drank and the more you drank the crazier you got.