Fame is a powerful aphrodisiac.

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

Oh, I’m not a Berkeleian. I believe my back’s against this wall. I believe there’s a sten gun over there.

Lust is not the worst thing. It is because any day, any time, lust may turn into love that we have to avoid it. And when we love our sin then we are damned indeed.

Her face looked ugly in the attempt to avoid tears; it was an ugliness which bound him to her more than any beauty could have done. It isn't being happy together, he thought as though it were a fresh discovery, that makes one love--it's being unhappy together.

The world was in her heart already, like the small spot of decay in a fruit.

Unfortunately the innocent are always involved in any conflict. Always, everywhere, there is some voice crying from a tower.