The human mind can bear plenty of reality but not too much intermittent gloom.

Our desire to conform is greater than our respect for objective facts.

You have to be careful what you imagine, because the act of imagining is the act of encouraging yourself to be a certain kind of person.

There would be more genuine rejoicing at the discovery of a complete new novel by Jane Austen than any other literary discovery, short of a new major play by Shakespeare.

What really annoys me are the ones who write to say, I am doing your book for my final examinations and could you please tell me what the meaning of it is. I find it just so staggering--that you're supposed to explain the meaning of your book to some total stranger! If I knew what the meanings of my books were, I wouldn't have bothered to write them.

The women are always vixens or monsters. They can't just be normal people in the book.

If I knew what the meanings of my books were, I wouldn't have bothered to write them.