The loved object is simply one that has shared an experience at the same moment of time, narcissistically; and the desire to be near the beloved object is at first not due to the idea of possessing it, but simply to let the two experiences compare themselves, like reflections in different mirrors. All this may precede the first look, kiss, or touch; precede ambition, pride, or envy; precede the first declarations which mark the turning point—for from here love degenerates into habit, possession, and back to loneliness.

Shyness has laws you can only give yourself; tragically to those who least understand.

The heaviest impact of the work of art is in the guts. Art does not reason. It manhandles you and changes you.

Journeys, like artists, are born and not made. A thousand differing circumstances contribute to them, few of them willed or determined by the will-whatever we may think.

Prohibitions create the desire they were intended to cure.

Life is more complicated than we think, yet far simpler than anyone dares to imagine

It's unthinkable not to love - you'd have a severe nervous breakdown. Or you'd have to be Philip Larkin.