To die for a religion is easier than to live it absolutely.

Blindness has not been for me a total misfortune; it should not be seen in a pathetic way. It should be seen as a way of life: one of the styles of living.

If a writer disbelieves what he is writing, then he can hardly expect his reader to believe it.

Besides, rereading, not reading, is what counts.

A writer needs loneliness, and he gets his share of it. He needs love, and he gets shared and also unshared love. He needs friendship. In fact, he needs the universe. To be a writer is, in a sense, to be a day-dreamer - to be living a kind of double life.

When you come right down to it, opinions are the most superficial things about anyone

My father gave me free run of his library. When I think of my boyhood, I think in terms of the books I read.