Because if one has an image, however dim and romantic, of a journey's end, one may, in the end, surely reach it, after no matter how many detours and deceptions and abandonings of hope. And hope could never have been entirely abandoned, even in the worst days.

When nothing is sure, everything is possible.

I need words and print... I need print like an addict. I could live without it, perhaps. But I hope I never have to try.

I've always thought that very few people grow old as admirably as academics. At least books never let them down.

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

Why can't people be both flexible and efficient?

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