Any life, however long and complicated it may be, actually consists of a single moment — the moment when a man knows forever more who he is.

Life and death have been lacking in my life.

In all fiction, when a man is faced with alternatives he chooses one at the expense of others.

Life itself is a quotation.

Every writer creates his own precursors. His work modifies our conception of the past, as it will modify the future.

So plant your own gardens and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.

In the course of a life devoted less to living than to reading, I have verified many times that literary intentions and theories are nothing more than stimuli and that the final work usually ignores or even contradicts them.