I can do pretty good work in various short forms, but anything over 1400 words, I'd be of no use. I like to say I'm a river navigator. I need to see the shore behind the shore.

To me, the greatest artists are almost entirely non-verbal.

Beauty is not a concept. It is the animal joy of the mind.

I find that the mask of the critic is to have distance.

A word is a thought, of course. But any image, including a photograph, may become an instrument of sufficiently lucid cogitation.

Love and fear, the two strongest emotions we have. It all starts with emotion.

I do have pleasure when I'm writing. I mean, I'm aware of pleasure. And sometimes I make myself laugh, with a joke or something; or I feel gleeful.