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

There's nothing wrong with being a genius who can fascinate the young. Rather, there's something wrong with the young who can't be fascinated by a genius.

The best life for a writer is the life which helps him write the best books he can.

Love is just a system for getting someone to call you darling after sex.

Discovering, for example, that as witnesses to your life diminish, there is less corroboration, and therefore less certainty, as to what you are or have been. [p. 65]

Books say: She did this because. Life says: She did this. Books are where things are explained to you; life is where things aren't. I'm not surprised some people prefer books.

Every love story is a potential grief story.