To possess another language is to possess another soul.

More particularly, having a largely German-oriented education has made me very responsive to 19th-century German literature.

I think I'm in the same mood as ever, but in some ways more mature. I guess you could say that, at 65, when you've seen the world shape up as I have, there are only two things you can do: laugh or kill yourself.

There is a terrible alienation in the ordinary man between what he is being told and what he secretly believes.

People are very secretive - secret even from themselves.

Without a pen in my hand I can't think.

A lot of people see doubt as legitimate philosophical posture. They think of themselves in the middle, whereas of course really, they're nowhere.