When narratives fracture, when words fail, I take consolation from the part of my life that always works: the stationery order. The mail-order stationery people supply every need from royal blue Quink to a dazzling variety of portable hard drives.

When you are writing laws you are testing words to find their utmost power. Like spells, they have to make things happen in the real world, and like spells, they only work if people believe in them.

Every leader operates under the threat of assassination.

For many imaginative writers, working for the press is a fact of their life. But it's best not to like it too much.

He thinks, I remembered you, Thomas More, but you didn't remember me. You never even saw me coming.

Insight cannot be taken back. You cannot return to the moment you were in before.

I was the subject of an experiment in love. I lived my life under her gaze, undergoing certain trials for her so that she would not have to undergo them for herself. But, how are our certainties forged, except by the sweat and tears of other people? If your parents don't teach you how to live; you learn it from books; and clever people watch you learn from your mistakes.