Love may not lead where we think or hope, but regardless of outcome it should be a call to seriousness and truth. If it is not that - if it is not moral in its effect - then love is no more than an exaggerated form of pleasure.

Remember the botched brothel-visit in L’Education sentimentale and remember its lesson. Do not participate: happiness lies in the imagination, not the act. Pleasure is found first in anticipation, later in memory.

When you are writing fiction your task is to reflect the fullest complications of the world

You grew old first not in your own eyes, but in other people's eyes; then, slowly, you agreed with their opinion of you.

When we fall in love, we hope - both egotistically and altruistically - that we shall be finally, truly seen: judged and approved. Of course, love does not always bring approval: being seen may just as well lead to a thumbs-down and a season in hell.

Time...give us enough time and our best-supported decisions will seem wobbly, our certainties whimsical.

Irony ... may be defined as what people miss.