If you're not annoying somebody, you're not really alive.

Of course (said Oryx), having a money value was no substitute for love. Every child should have love, every person should have it. . . . but love was undependable, it came and then it went, so it was good to have a money value, because then at least those who wanted to make a profit from you would make sure you were fed enough and not damaged too much. Also there were many who had neither love nor a money value, and having one of these things was better than having nothing.

I was horrified in high school by the fate of the hanged maids at the end of the Odyssey; it seemed unfair to me, even then.

There may not be one Truth - there may be several truths - but saying that is not to say that reality doesn't exist.

I am not a saint or a cripple, I am not a wound; now I will see whether I am a coward.

The only way you can write the truth is to assume that what you set down will never be read.

There is something reassuring about the toilets. Bodily functions at least remain democratic. Everybody shits.