And I didn't know I loved her till I'd dreamt of her. I didn't know it was the real thing until an illusion had signalled it.

People die when curiosity goes.

What we wish upon the future is very often the image of some lost, imagined past.

Literature is the voice of the human heart.

All nature's creatures join to express nature's purpose. Somewhere in their mounting and mating, rutting and butting is the very secret of nature itself.

As a novelist, I suppose I can say that I'm highly articulate. But I know, as a person, in other ways, I'm not always articulate. I think we are all, from time to time, inarticulate, at some level, about some things.

All novelists must form their personal pacts in some way with the slowness of their craft. There are some who demand of themselves a 'rate of production,' for whom it's a matter of pride to complete, say, a book every year.