I think the world is full of evil people. I think in some ways we're in more danger now than before.

The heart is an artist that paints over what profoundly disturbs it, leaving on the canvas a less dark, less sharp version of the truth.

If you have to pay the bills, and you write something you're not proud of, use a pen-name for that.

Vladimir Nabokov said the two great evils of the 20th century were Marx and Freud. He was absolutely correct.

Because God is never cruel, there is a reason for all things. We must know the pain of loss; because if we never knew it, we would have no compassion for others, and we would become monsters of self-regard, creatures of unalloyed self-interest. The terrible pain of loss teaches humility to our prideful kind, has the power to soften uncaring hearts, to make a better person of a good one.

These days, people spent too much time striving to understand their feelings - and then ended up with none that were genuine.

Life is a train ride, and at the many stations along the route, people important to us debark, never to get aboard again, until by the end of the journey, we sit in a passenger car where most of the seats are empty.