How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless.

Fiction should always steer clear of political considerations.

Security is a false God. Begin to make sacrifices to it and you are lost.

One never took the time to savour the details; one said: another day, but always with the hidden knowledge that each day was unique and fatal, that there never would be a return, another time.

If people and their manner of living were alike everywhere, there would not be much point in moving from one place to another.

I've always wanted to get as far as possible from the place where I was born. Far both geographically and spiritually. To leave it behind ... I feel that life is very short and the world is there to see and one should know as much about it as possible. One belongs to the whole world, not just one part of it.

It's very hard to write about that which is always beautiful and pleasant and good. You don't get anywhere with it. There's no friction in it. There's no trouble. You have to have trouble. Somebody's got to get in trouble, or no one wants to read it.