Probably no adult misery can be compared with a child's despair.

The notion that one will not survive a particular catastrophe is, in general terms, a comfort since it is equivalent to abolishing the catastrophe.

Of course reading and thinking are important but, my God, food is important too. How fortunate we are to be food-consuming animals. Each meal should be a treat and one ought to bless every day which brings with it a good digestion and the precious gift of hunger.

My heart was beating like an army on the march.

Art is not cozy and it is not mocked. Art tells the only truth that ultimately matters. It is the light by which human things can be mended. And after art there is, let me assure you all, nothing.

A letter is a barrier, a reprieve, a charm against the world, an almost infallible method of acting at a distance.

Those who hope, by retiring from the world, to earn a holiday from human frailty, in themselves and others, are usually disappointed.