It's easy, after all, not to be a writer. Most people aren't writers, and very little harm comes to them.

I don't believe in God, but I miss him.

What you end up remembering isn't always the same as what you have witnessed.

I'm a complete democrat in terms of who buys my books.

This was another of our fears: that Life wouldn't turn out to be like Literature.

Memory is identity....You are what you have done; what you have done is in your memory; what you remember defines who you are; when you forget your life you cease to be, even before your death.

Later on in life, you expect a bit of rest, don't you? You think you deserve it. I did, anyway. But then you begin to understand that the reward of merit is not life's business.