I still believe in stories. I still forget myself when I am in the middle of a good book. Books are for me, it must be said, the most important thing.

One gets so used to one's own horrors, one forgets how they must seem to other people.

There are too many books in the world to read in a single lifetime; you have to draw the line somewhere.

There was no single moment when I thought, Aha! What a great idea! Rather there was a slow and gradual accumulation of numerous small ideas.

Boys do not leave their boyhood behind when they leave off their school uniform.

But silence is not a natural environment for stories. They need words. Without them they grown pale, sicken and die. And then they haunt you.

What better way to get to know someone than through her choice and treatment of books?