Is love supposed to ruin you? It seems to me you shouldn't destroy yourself out of life for purposes of love--or what good is it?

I immersed myself in The Periodic Table gladly and gratefully. There is nothing superfluous here, everything this book contains is essential. It is wonderful pure, and beautifully translated...I was deeply impressed.

The main reason for rewriting is not to achieve a smooth surface, but to discover the inner truth of your characters.

We are all such accidents. We do not make up history and culture. We simply appear, not by our own choice. We make what we can of our condition with the means available. We must accept the mixture as we find it - the impurity of it, the tragedy of it, the hope of it.

Any artist should be grateful for a naive grace which puts him beyond the need to reason elaborately.

I am more stupid about some things than others; not equally stupid in all directions; I am not a well-rounded person.

I would like to explain that I consider prayer above all an act of gratitude for existence.