To own a certain book - and to choose it without help - is to define yourself.

WHORES. Necessary in the nineteenth century for the contraction of syphilis, without which no one could claim genius.

I had wanted life not to bother me too much, and had succeeded - and how pitiful that was.

Loving humanity means as much, and as little, as loving raindrops, or loving the Milky Way. You say that you love humanity? Are you sure you aren’t treating yourself to easy self-congratulation, seeking approval, making certain you’re on the right side?

There will always be non-readers, bad readers, lazy readers - there always were.

When you are young, you think that the old lament the deterioration of life because this makes it easier for them to die without regret. When you are old, you become impatient with the way in which the young applaud the most insignificant improvements … while remaining heedless of the world’s barbarism. I don’t say things have got worse; I merely say the young wouldn’t notice if they had. The old times were good because then we were young, and ignorant of how ignorant the young can be.

Women were brought up to believe that men were the answer. They weren't. They weren't even one of the questions.