Story involves action. Action towards an end not to be foreseen (by the reader) but also towards an end which, having been reached, must be seen to have been from the start inevitable.

Not only is there no question of solitude, but in the long run we may not choose our company.

If a theme or idea is too near the surface, the novel becomes simply a tract illustrating an idea.

Curiosity in Rome is a form of courtesy.

Intimacies between women often go backwards, beginning in revelations and ending in small talk.

in my experience one thing you don't learn from is anything anyone set up to be a lesson; what you are to know you pick up as you go along.

The importance to the writer of first writing must be out of all proportion of the actual value of what is written.