The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness.

Was she really beautiful? Was she at least what they call attractive? She was exasperation, she was torture.

Use unlikely materials. Who would choose Pnin as hero, but how did we live before Pnin?

Why should I tolerate a perfect stranger at the bedside of my mind?

My answer to your question'Does the writer have a social responsibility?' is NO.You owe me ten cents, sir.

Here lies the sense of literary creation to portray ordinary objects as they will be reflected in kindly mirrors of future times. . . . To find in objects around us the fragrant tenderness that only posterity will discern . . .

Imagination, the supreme delight of the immortal and the immature, should be limited. In order to enjoy life, we should not enjoy it too much.