In the political jargon of those days, the word "intellectual" was an insult. It indicated someone who did not understand life and was cut off from the people. All the Communists who were hanged at the time by other Communists were awarded such abuse. Unlike those who had their feet solidly on the ground, they were said to float in the air. So it was fair, in a way, that as punishment the ground was permanently pulled out from under their feet, that they remained suspended a little above the floor.

She regarded books as the emblems of secret brotherhood. A man with this sort of library couldn't possibly hurt her.

When his wife was at his side, she was also in front of him, marking out the horizon of his life. Now the horizon is empty: the view has changed.

The novel is not the author's confession; it is an investigation of human life in the trap the world has become

Perhaps all the questions we ask of love, to measure, test, probe, and save it, have the additional effect of cutting it short.

Speak truth to power.

Solitude: a sweet absence of looks.