Unnatural death always provoked a peculiar unease, an uncomfortable realization that there were still some things that might not be susceptible to bureaucratic control.

Early this morning, 1 January 2021, three minutes after midnight, the last human being to be born on earth was killed in a pub brawl in a suburb of Buenos Aires, aged twenty-five years, two months and twelve days.

I learned early and at that kitchen table that there are ways of avoiding, without guilt, the commitments of love.

Metaphysical speculation is about as pointless as a discussion on the meaning of one's lungs. They're for breathing.

Man is diminished if he lives without knowledge of his past; without hope of a future he becomes a beast.

the unforgivable was usually the most easily forgiven.

Open your mind to new experiences, particularly to the study of other ­people. Nothing that happens to a writer – however happy, however tragic – is ever wasted.