I see again my schoolroom in Vyra, the blue roses of the wallpaper, the open window.… Everything is as it should be, nothing will ever change, nobody will ever die.

The more gifted and talkative one's characters are, the greater the chances of their resembling the author in tone or tint of mind.

Sleep is the most moronic fraternity in the world, with the heaviest dues and the crudest rituals. It is a mental torture I find debasing... I simply cannot get used to the nightly betrayal of reason, humanity, genius.

My principal failing as a writer is the lack of spontaneity; the nuisance of parallel thoughts, second thoughts, third thoughts; inability to express myself properly in any language unless I compose every damned sentence in my bath, in my mind, at my desk.

Style and Structure are the essence of a book; great ideas are hogwash.

Knowing you have something good to read before bed is among the most pleasurable of sensations.

Genius is an African who dreams up snow.