So much of life [is] a putting-off of unhappiness for another time. Nothing [is] ever lost by delay.

God created a number of possibilities in case some of his prototypes failed - that is the meaning of evolution.

Most things disappoint till you look deeper.

Like the characters in Chekhov, they have no reserves -– you learn the most intimate secrets. You get an impression of a world peopled by eccentrics, of odd professions, almost incredible stupidities, and, to balance them, amazing endurances.

He had stylized himself--life was easier that way. He had chosen a physical mould just as writer chooses a technical form.

You think it more difficult to turn air into wine than to turn wine into blood?.

I had to touch you with my hands, I had to taste you with my tongue; one can't love and do nothing.