Absence is to love as wind is to fire: it extinguishes the little flame, it fans the big.
Umberto EcoDoes the novel have to deepen the psychology of its heroes? Certainly the modern novel does, but the ancient legends did not do the same. Oedipus' psychology was deduced by Aeschylus or Freud, but the character is simply there, fixed in a pure and terribly disquieting state.
Umberto EcoWhen one starts writing a book, especially a novel, even the humblest person in the world hopes to become Homer.
Umberto Eco