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.

If two things don't fit, but you believe both of them, thinking that somewhere, hidden, there must be a third thing that connects them, that's credulity.

What does culture want? To make infinity comprehensible.

I have to admit that I only read War and Peace when I was 40. But I knew the basics before then.

A narrator should not supply interpretations of his work; otherwise he would have not written a novel, which is a machine for generating interpretations.

Your masters at Oxford have taught you to idolize reason, drying up the prophetic capacities of your heart!

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.