These atheist cultures were certainly diligent in preserving the relics of their saints.

No book that is written for an external purpose is going to be a passionately felt book for the writer or the reader. I don't see the point in doing that.

...what will we someday do, I always wonder, without the pleasures of turning through books and stumbling on things we never meant to find?

He can't really love anyone, you know, and in the end such people are always alone, no matter how much other people once loved them.

I've always been interested in foreign relations. It's my belief that study of history should be our preparation for understanding the present rather than an escape from it.

Boys mystified me, although I dreamed vaguely of men.

He brought his great hand to rest on an early edition of Bram Stoker's novel and smiled, but said nothing. Then he moved quietly away into another section.