Worries are the most stubborn habits in the world. Even after a poor man has won a huge lottery prize, he will still for months wake up in the night with a start, worrying about food and rent.

To be a Jew is a destiny

To me, writing is not a profession. You might as well call living a profession. Or having children. Anything you can't help doing.

People don't speak of hunger when they know what it is to be hungry.

I was growing tired of all the fussing and prevaricating, of the stolen hours and the secret rendez-vous; of the small indignities and broad discomfort that are part and parcel of adultery.

in the big city nobody has time to make friends. The big city is a big solitude.

Fame always brings loneliness. Success is as ice cold and lonely as the North Pole.