Pain is not love. Love flowers; love gives without taking; love is serene and calm.

And what if I don't want forgiveness?

Any system was a straightjacket if you insisted on adhering to it so totally and humorlessly.

Though my friends envied me because I always seemed so cheerful and confident, I was secretly terrified of practically everything.

As a seasoned insomniac, I knew sometimes the way to beat sleeplessness was to outwit it: to pretend you didn't care about sleeping. Then sometimes sleep became piqued, like a rejected lover, and crept up to try to seduce you.

Ambivalence is a wonderful tune to dance to. It has a rhythm all its own.

Each artist or writer who works in Venice comes to believe that the city yields its most special secret to him or her alone.