The greater the ambiguity, the greater the pleasure.

The characters in my novels are my own unrealised possibilities. That is why I am equally fond of them all and equally horrified by them. Each one has crossed a border that I myself have circumvented.

The girl was grateful to the young man for every bit of flattery; she wanted to linger for a moment in its warmth and so she said, 'You're very good at lying.' 'Do I look like a liar?' 'You look like you enjoy lying to women,' said the girl, and into her words there crept unawares a touch of the old anxiety, because she really did believe that her young man enjoyed lying to women.

The beauty of New York is unintentional; it arose independent of human design, like a stalagmite cavern.

Indeed, the only truly serious questions are ones that even a child can formulate. Only the most naive of questions are truly serious.

Ambition is a poor excuse for not having sense enough to be lazy.

How goodness heightens beauty!