When people claim to know who I am, I can no longer act freely.

[Nabokov's] language is made visible . . . like a veil or transparent curtain. You cannot help seeing the curtain as you peek into the intimate rooms behind.

The planned sit-down reception is an artificial forum where one is presented with a limited number of persons with whom he can hold a conversation.

Homelessness is a part of our American system. There should be nothing wrong with this condition as long as the individual is not sentenced to unnecessary suffering and punishment.

I do not gather things, I prefer to rent them rather than to possess them.

Here was one place where I could find out who I was and what I was going to become. And that was the public library.

When people claim to know who I am, I can no longer act freely.