The first thing you have to consider when writing a novel is your story, and then your story - and then your story!

I know nothing - nothing in the world - of the hearts of men. I only know that I am alone - horribly alone.

Ford's last Fifth Queen novel is amazing. The whole cycle is a noble conception.

Yes, a war is inevitable. Firstly, there's you fellows who can't be trusted. And then there's the multitude who mean to have bathrooms and white enamel. Millions of them; all over the world. Not merely here. And there aren't enough bathrooms and white enamel in the world to go round.

It was an odd friendship, but the oddnesses of friendships are a frequent guarantee of their lasting texture.

The world is full of places to which I want to return

We are all so afraid, we are all so alone, we all so need from the outside the assurance of our own worthiness to exist. So, for a time, if such a passion come to fruition, the man will get what he wants. He will get the moral support, the encouragement, the relief from the sense of loneliness, the assurance of his own worth. But these things pass away; inevitably they pass away as the shadows pass across sundials. It is sad, but it is so. The pages of the book will become familiar; the beautiful corner of the road will have been turned too many times. Well, this is the saddest story.