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

Exceptional people are often called crazy by the ordinary world.

Perhaps every generation thinks of itself as a lost generation and perhaps every generation is right.

Before things are written down they don't exist in quite the same way. The act of fixing them in words gives them a kind of currency that can be traded.

Men have always detested women's gossip because they suspect the truth: their measurements are being taken and compared.

I tried to keep myself away from him by using con words like "fidelity" and "adultery", by telling myself that he would interfere with my work, that I had him I'd be too happy to write. I tried to tell myself I was hurting Bennett, hurting myself, making a spectacle of myself. I was. But nothing helped. I was possessed. The minute he walked into a room and smiled at me, I was a goner.

At fifty the madwoman in the attic breaks loose, stomps down the stairs, and sets fire to the house. She won't be imprisoned anymore.