I became, and remain, my characters' close and intent watcher: their director, never. Their creator I cannot feel that I was, or am.

To walk into history is to be free at once, to be at large among people.

one should discuss one's difficulties only when they are over.

Convention was our safeguard: could one have stronger?

Some people are molded by their admirations, others by their hostilities.

One can suffer a convulsion of one's entire nature, and, unless it makes some noise, no one notices. It's not just that we are incurious; we completely lack any sense of each other's existences.

Language is a mixture of statement and evocation.