The most interesting letters I received about 'The Name of the Rose' were from people in the Midwest that maybe didn't understand exactly, but wanted to understand more and who were excited by this picture of a world which was not their own.

Poetry is not a matter of feelings, it is a matter of language. It is language which creates feelings.

When the writer (or the artist in general) says he has worked without giving any thought to the rules of the process, he simply means he was working without realizing he knew the rules.

Memory is a stopgap for humans, for whom time flies and what is passed is passed.

It takes a little time, but the pleasures of cooking begin before the pleasures of the palate, and preparing means anticipating.

Better reality than a dream: if something is real, then it's real and you're not to blame.

Beauty has never been absolute and immutable but has taken on different aspects depending on the historical period and the country