Students present themselves...like a succession of CDs whose shimmering surface gives no clue to their contents without the equipment to play them.

Until the 20th century it was generally assumed that a writer had said what he had to say in his works.

Wickedness was like food: once you got started it was hard to stop; the gut expanded to take in more and more.

Hoping to fashion a mirror, the lover doth polish the face of his beloved until he produces a skull.

Now that I am sixty, I see why the idea of elder wisdom has passed from currency.

Men emerge pale from the little printing plant at four sharp, ghosts for an instant, blinking, until the outdoor light overcomes the look of constant indoor light clinging to them.

Life is like an overlong drama through which we sit being nagged by the vague memories of having read the reviews.