Lovers communicate not inside sentences, but between them. Passion lurks within interstice. It is grouting rather than bricks.

A lot of people get so hung up on what they can't have that they don't think for a second about whether they really want it.

The secret is that there is no secret.

...You can only subject people to anguish who have a conscience. You can only punish people who have hopes to frustrate or attachments to sever; who worry what you think of them. You can really only punish people who are already a little bit good.

I thought at the time that I couldn't be horrified anymore, or wounded. I suppose that's a common conceit, that you've already been so damaged that damage itself, in its totality, makes you safe.

Reading time is precious. Don't waste it. Reading bad books, or books that are wrong for a certain time in your life, can dangerously turn you off the activity altogether.

It is never persuasive to argue that you are not the kind of person who does what you are actually doing.