But why doesn't the Gospel ever say that Christ laughed?" I asked, for no good reason. "Is Jorge right?" "Legions of scholars have wondered whether Christ laughed. The question doesn't interest me much. I believe he never laughed, because, omniscient as the son of God had to be, he knew how we Christians would behave. . . .

Authors frequently say things they are unaware of; only after they have gotten the reactions of their readers do they discover what they have said

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

Love flourishes in expectation. Expectation strolls through the spacious fields of Time towards Opportunity.

Better reality than a dream: if something is real, then it's real and you're not to blame.

For, I must tell you, in this world where today all lose their minds over many & wondrous Machines - some of which, alas, you can see also in this Siege - I construct Aristotelian Machines, that allow anyone to see with Words.

A book is a fragile creature. It suffers the wear of time, it fears rodents, the elements, clumsy hands.