The old man looked at him with his sun-burned, confident loving eyes.

A writer should be of as great probity and honesty as a priest of God. He is either honest or not, as a woman is either chaste or not, and after one piece of dishonest writing he is never the same again.

Cowards die a thousand deaths, but the brave only die once.

There are only two places in the world where we can live happy: at home and in Paris.

The best writing is certainly when you are in love

When I am working on a book or a story I write every morning as soon after first light as possible. There is no one to disturb you and is it is cool and you come to your work and warm as you write. You read what you have written and, as you always stop when you know what is going to happen next, you go on from there. You write until you come to a place where you still have your juice and know what will happen next and you stop and try to live through until the next day when you hit again.

It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them.