Fear is the touch of death, death reminding us of its existence.

Animals have one thing that puts them way ahead of people: they don't dissemble, and you don't have to pretend in front of them.

A picture was a motionless record of motion. An arrested representation of life. A picture was the kiss of death pretending to possess immutability.

..the writer's obsession - the desire to know and communicate, or, rather, to know everything so as to communicate with the greatest degree of precision.

Justice was revenge wrapping itself in a cloak of high principle.

The world is like an enormous set of scales. When evil begins to outweigh good, angels cram themselves in on the lighter side. You can't see them, but there they are, restoring the balance.

Graveyards remind us of the vanity of all human endeavour.