I should allow only my heart to have imagination; and for the rest rely on memory, that long drawn sunset of one's personal truth.

The compensation for a death sentence is the knowledge of the exact hour when one is to die. A great luxury, but one that is well earned.

Solitude is the playfield of Satan.

Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul.

A masterpiece of fiction is an original world and as such is not likely to fit the world of the reader.

IN ANSWER TO THE QUESTION: WHAT SCENES ONE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE FILMED Shakespeare in the part of the King's Ghost. The beheading of Louis the Sixteenth, the drums drowning his speech on the scaffold. Herman Melville at breakfast, feeling a sardine to his cat. Poe's wedding. Lewis Carroll's picnics. The Russians leaving Alaska, delighted with the deal. Shot of a seal applauding.

if a violin string could ache, i would be that string.