I know how deeply slothful I am.

We use books like mirrors, gazing into them only to discover ourselves.

Within this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we live.

I have myself always been terrified of plagiarism - of being accused of it, that is. Every writer is a thief, though some of us are more clever than others at disguising our robberies. The reason writers are such slow readers is that we are ceaselessly searching for things we can steal and then pass off as our own: a natty bit of syntax, a seamless transition, a metaphor that jumps to its target like an arrow shot from an aluminum crossbow.

No nostalgia runs deeper than that for something one has never known and now cannot obtain.

One of the pleasures of being a Jew, I don't have to tell you, it allows you anti-Semitism.

By the way, the secret of speaking French is confidence. Whether you are right or wrong, you don't hesitate.