One learns one’s mystery at the price of one’s innocence.

Everything matters. The Universe is approximately fifteen billion years old, and I swear that in all that time, nothing has ever happened that has not mattered, has not contributed in some way to the totality.

Many a promising career has been wrecked by marrying the wrong sort of woman.

There is absolutely no point in sitting down to write a book unless you feel that you must write that book, or else go mad, or die.

In the end, it is upon the quality and commitment of individuals that all group movements depend.

Secrets are the blood of life. Every big thing is a secret, even when you know it, because you never know all of it. If you can know everything about anything, it is not worth knowing.

It is a waste of time to dissipate one's moral zeal in disapproving of royal persons who have mistresses.