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

I suspect that there is no serious scholar who doesn’t like to watch television. I’m just the only one who confesses.

I seal that which was not to be said in the tomb that I become.

When men stop believing in God, it isn't that they then believe in nothing: they believe in everything.

I love the smell of book ink in the morning.

Entering a novel is like going on a climb in the mountains: You have to learn the rhythms of respiration - acquire the pace. Otherwise you stop right away.

But laughter is weakness, corruption, the foolishness of our flesh.