Poems, novels - these things belong to the nation, to the culture and the people. They've been stolen from the people and now the stolen things are being returned to their owners, but I don't think their owners should be grateful to receive them.

A poet is a combination of an instrument and a human being in one person, with the former gradually taking over the latter. The sensation of this takeover is responsible for timbre; the realization of it, for destiny.

When Thomas Mann arrived in California from Germany, they asked him about German literature. And he said, 'German literature is where I am.' It's really a bit grand, but if a German can afford it, I can afford it.

I'm neither Catholic not Protestant. Protestant sounds good but I don't think I am.

What I like about cities is that everything is king size, the beauty and the ugliness.

If one's fated to be born in Caesar's Empire, let him live aloof, provincial, by the seashore.

Perhaps the best proof of the Almighty's existence is that we never know when we are to die.