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.

I have a good memory. But I would be interested in memory even if I had a bad memory, because I believe that memory is our soul. If we lose our memory completely, we are without a soul.

Deciding what is being talked about is a kind of interpretive bet.

Libraries can take the place of God.

Whoever reflects on four things I would be better if he were never born: that which is above, that which is below, that which is before, that which is after.

I love the secrecy of writing fiction. When I write a novel, I don't tell anybody what I'm doing. I'm living in my private world. And it's a great sensation.

I wrote a novel because I had a yen to do it. I believe this is sufficient reason to set out to tell a story.