I conceive of God, in fact, as a means of liberation and not a means to control others.

You write in order to change the world ... if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way people look at reality, then you can change it.

He may be a very nice man. But I haven't got the time to figure that out. All I know is, he's got a uniform and a gun and I have to relate to him that way. That's the only way to relate to him because one of us may have to die.

I often wonder what I'd do if there weren't any books in the world.

It is very nearly impossible... to become an educated person in a country so distrustful of the independent mind.

If you really want to know something about solitude, become famous.

I don't know, now, when I first looked at Hella and found her stale, found her body uninteresting, her presence grating. It seemed to happen all at once—I suppose that only means that it had been happening for a long time.