I ask of any God, of any gods, that if they give immortality, I hope to be granted oblivion also.

Time is the substance from which I am made. Time is a river which carries me along, but I am the river; it is a tiger that devours me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire.

Reality is partial to symmetry and slight anachronisms

When writers die they become books, which is, after all, not too bad an incarnation.

There are no moral or intellectual merits. Homer composed the Odyssey; if we postulate an infinite period of time, with infinite circumstances and changes, the impossible thing is not to compose the Odyssey, at least once.

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

It seemed incredible that this day, a day without warnings or omens, might be that of my implacable death.