Every writer creates his own precursors. His work modifies our conception of the past, as it will modify the future.

So plant your own gardens and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.

Being with you and not being with you is the only way I have to measure time.

Don't talk unless you can improve the silence.

I am not sure that I exist, actually. I am all the writers that I have read, all the people that I have met, all the women that I have loved; all the cities I have visited.

I cannot sleep unless I am surrounded by books.

The worst labyrinth is not that intricate form that can entrap us forever, but a single and precise straight line

The fact is that poetry is not the books in the library . . . Poetry is the encounter of the reader with the book, the discovery of the book.

Nothing is built on stone; all is built on sand, but we must build as if the sand were stone.

I can give you my loneliness, my darkness, the hunger of my heart, I am trying to bribe you with uncertainty, with danger, with defeat.

The original is unfaithful to the translation.

Sometimes, just saying that you hate something, and having someone agree with you, can make you feel better about a terrible situation.

I never feel really comfortable unless I am either actually writing or have a story going. I could not stop writing.

The mirror is the tool of the one who wants to do a self-portrait. And if you want to make a photo you need a mirror.

A brand is the promise of an experience.

Too many people have died so unnecessarily; AIDS is completely preventable, yet it's killing more kids in South Africa then everything else, and that's just not how it should be.

Who's not sat tense before his own heart's curtain.

Oh good. I love being bait for a homicidal mutilator." Stephanie Plum

Your own music comes out of your head and emotions, but it's not etched in your system.

When I start something I bring my A-game - I assume I'm going to win.

Accepting blame when it's not really due sometimes makes the point better.