Irritation for some men was their response to strain.

There are kinds of action, for good or ill, that lie so far outside the boundaries of normal behavior that they force us, in acknowledging that they have occurred, to restructure our own understanding of reality. We have to make room for them.

I have always argued, in a good novel, interesting things happen to interesting people.

My youngest brother had a wonderful schtick from some time in high school, through to graduating medicine. He had a card in his wallet that read, ‘If I am found with amnesia, please give me the following books to read …’ And it listed half a dozen books where he longed to recapture that first glorious sense of needing to find out ‘what happens next’ … the feeling that keeps you up half the night. The feeling that comes before the plot’s been learned.

What mortal knew the way their fate line would run?

It can be hard to write a skillfully entertaining fiction, but a great book wants to be more, and wants more from us.

The heart has its own laws... and the truth is... the truth is that you are the law of mine.