If you treat life well, life is usually good to you. And I love life. There's a long-standing affair between us.

For me writing is a question of finding a certain rhythm. I compare it to the rhythms of jazz.

Art must take reality by surprise. It takes those moments which are for us merely a moment, plus a moment, plus another moment, and arbitrarily transforms them into a special series of moments held together by a major emotion.

I don't think there's any intrinsic difference between a lover and a husband. ... If I were cynical, I would say that a woman should have both a good husband and a lover. But I'm not cynical so I'll just say that a woman should have a lover who's a good husband and a husband who's a good lover, perhaps both.

The happiness of people who are in love and who are loved shows in their faces. They have an expression that's at once very far away and very much part of the present.

My love of pleasure seems to be the only consistent side of my character. Is it because I have not read enough?

curiosity is the beginning of wisdom.