A dead afternoon in a dark bar was not the worst of fates.

Somehow pictures always lead to people as masses. Books belong to individuals.

It was only when I found myself writing things I didn't realise I knew that I said, 'I'm a writer now.'

I think that the massive, overarching, interconnected systems of technology tend to make us a little insecure, somewhat pliable, and susceptible to half-beliefs.

He took pains to avoid self-depreciation, self-mockery, ambiguity, irony, subtlety, vulnerability, a civilized world-weariness and a tragic sense of history--the very things, he says, that are most natural to him.

the instant he knew he loved her, she slipped down his body and out of his arms

As belief shrinks from the world, it is more necessary than ever that someone believe. Wild-eyed men in caves. Nuns in black. Monks who do not speak. We are left to believe. Fools, children. Those who have abandoned belief must still believe in us. They are sure they are right not to believe but they know belief must not fade completely. Hell is when no one believes.