A pale reflection of myself wavers in my consciousness...and suddenly the “I” pales, pales, and fades out.

Good digestions, the gray monotony of provincial life, and the boredom-ah the soul-destroying boredom-of long days of mild content.

Is there really nothing, nothing left of me?

Violence is good for those who have nothing to lose.

What I ask of [the writer] is not to ignore the reality and the fundamental problems that exist. The world's hunger, the atomic threat, the alienation of man, I am astonished that they do not color all our literature.

I say a murder is abstract. You pull the trigger and after that you do not understand anything that happens.

If a Jew is fascinated by Christians it is not because of their virtues, which he values little, but because they represent anonymity, humanity without race.