There was the usual dreaminess, I suppose. Also a shyness that caused me - and others - to notice that I could express myself better by writing than by speaking. This is typical of many writers, I think. What is a drawback in childhood is an asset to a literary life. Not being fluent on one’s feet sends one to the page and a habit is born.

Most things good for writing are bad for life.

She was unequal to anyone's wistfulness. She had made too little of her life. Its loneliness shamed her like a crime.

All the world's a stage we're going through.

Love is a fever," she said. "And when you come out of it you'll discover whether you've been lucky - or not.

Sometimes I ask myself if writing novels is even respectable.

[T]he normal and the everyday are often amazingly unstoppable, and what is unimaginable is the cessation of them. The world is resilient, and, no matter what interruptions occur, people so badly want to return to their lives and get on with them. A veneer of civilization descends quickly, like a shining rain. Dust is settled.