Writing is a necessity and often a pleasure, but at the same time, it can be a great burden and a terrible struggle.

The kernel, the soul - let us go further and say the substance, the bulk, the actual and valuable material of all human utterances - is plagiarism.

As I get older I find that the friendships that are the most certain, ultimately, are the ones where you and the other person have made substantial amounts of money for one another.

What's lucky about my career in general is that I stumbled into what every writer most wants. Not repeating myself and doing strange things has become my trademark.

I hate libraries for the way they put stickers on things. I don't approve of folding over pages, or of writing in books. God, forget scissors - that's beyond the pale.

To the resentment that hides inside love, to the loneliness that hides among companions.

I don't have a lot of paper in my immediate work environment, except when I'm doing things like checking the godforsaken proofs.