What a man does defiles him, not what is done by others.

One's intelligence may march about and about a problem, but the solution does not come gradually into view. One moment it is not. The next it is there.

The greatest pleasure is not - say - sex or geometry. It is just understanding. And if you can get people to understand their own humanity - well, that's the job of the writer.

the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist.

The candle-buds opened their wide white flowers....Their scent spilled out into the air and took possession of the island.

Even if you got rid of paper, you would still have story-tellers. In fact, you had the story-tellers before you had the paper.

The writer probably knows what he meant when he wrote a book, but he should immediately forget what he meant when he's written it.