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.

but I had also learned that freedom of speech means freedom from rhetoric.

The Fundamental Principle that governs - or ought to govern -human affairs if we wish to avoid misunderstandings, conflicts, or pointless utopias, is negotiation.

The older I grow and the more I abandon myself to God's will, the less I value intelligence that wants to know and will that wants to do; and as the only element of salvation I recognize faith, which can wait patiently, without asking too many questions.

When one starts writing a book, especially a novel, even the humblest person in the world hopes to become Homer.

I developed a passion for the Middle Ages the same way some people develop a passion for coconuts.

The truth is an anagram of an anagram.