Not to find one's way around a city does not mean much. But to lose one's way in a city, as one loses one's way in a forest, requires some schooling. Street names must speak to the urban wanderer like the snapping of dry twigs, and little streets in the heart of the city must reflect the times of day, for him, as clearly as a mountain valley. This art I acquired rather late in life; it fulfilled a dream, of which the first traces were labyrinths on the blotting papers in my school notebooks.

Work on good prose has three steps: a musical stage when it is composed, an architectonic one when it is built, and a textile one when it is woven.

In every case the storyteller is a man who has counsel for his readers.

You could tell a lot about a man by the books he keeps - his tastes, his interest, his habits.

Every monument of civilization is a monument of barbarism

Boredom is the dream bird that hatches the egg of experience. A rustling in the leaves drives him away.

These are days when no one should rely unduly on his competence. Strength lies in improvisation. All the decisive blows are struck left-handed.