Such are the Splendors and Miseries of memory: it is proud of its ability to keep truthful track of the logical sequence of past events; but when it comes to how we experienced them at the time, memory feels no obligation to truth.

The love between dog and man is idyllic, dogs were never expelled from paradise.

Looking out over the courtyard at the dirty walls, he realized he had no idea whether it was hysteria or love.

In the world of highways, a beautiful landscape means: an island of beauty connected by a long line with other islands of beauty.

She was aware that in love even the most passionate idealism will not rid the body's surface of its terrible, basic importance.

If I had two lives, in one life I could invite her to stay at my place, and in the second life I could kick her out. Then I could compare and see which had been the best thing to do. But we only live once. Life's so light. Like an outline we can't ever fill in or correct... make any better. It's frightening".

He was well aware that of the two of three thousand times he had made love (how many times had he made love in his life?) only two or three were really essential and unforgettable. The rest were mere echoes, imitations, repetitions, or reminiscences.