I actually find novels that are determined to be funny at every turn quite oppressive.

...falling in love could be achieved in a single word—a glance.

come back, come back to me

Imagining what it is like to be someone other than yourself is at the core of our humanity. It is the essence of compassion, and it is the beginning of morality.

I've never had a moment's doubt. I love you. I believe in you completely. You are my dearest one. My reason for life.

A person is, among all else, a material thing, easily torn and not easily mended.

True intelligence requires fabulous imagination.

When its gone, you'll know what a gift love was. you'll suffer like this. So go back and fight to keep it.

I believe the novella is the perfect form of prose fiction. It is the beautiful daughter of a rambling, bloated ill-shaven giant (but a giant who's a genius on his best days).

I'm holding back, delaying the information. I'm lingering in the prior moment because it was a time when other outcomes were still possible.

Observing human variety can give pleasure, but so too can human sameness.

His shrill cries flood the forest like light engulfing a silhouette.

A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never remembers her age.

If you prefer smoke over fire then get up now and leave. For I do not intend to perfume your mind's clothing with more sooty knowledge.

The greatest business icons-it's not that they were worth hundreds of millions, or billions or trillions of dollars, it's that they moved society forward.

I do not believe the American people are going to confuse hatred for passion.

By trying so hard to provide the perfectly happy childhood, we're just making it harder for our kids to actually grow up.

Love is a never ending smile...

The successful man is himself. To be successful, you've got to be honest with yourself.

There are two languages: one as things seem to us and the other of knowledge.