I'm full of self-doubt. I doubt everything I do. Everything I do is a failure.

Fictional characters are made of words, not flesh; they do not have free will, they do not exercise volition. They are easily born, and as easily killed off.

In order really to write one has to sink deep into the self and become lost there.

All my life I have lied. I lied to escape, I lied to be loved, I lied for placement and power; I lied to lie. It was a way of living; lies are life's almost-anagram.

The past beats inside me like a second heart.

If I was asked to say what was the greatest invention of human beings, I would say the sentence.

Everything we do is tinged with the knowledge that this may be the last time that we will do this, and that makes what we're doing incredibly sweet.

We carry the dead with us only until we die too, and then it is we who are borne along for a little while, and then our bearers in their turn drop, and so on into the unimaginable generations.

To take possession of a city of which you are not a native you must first fall in love there.

For memory, we use our imagination. We take a few strands of real time and carry them with us, then like an oyster we create a pearl around them.

A man is not much if he can't depend on himself, and nothing if others can't depend on him.

My God - it's a green child!" said the American. "What is this place - the House of Usher?

Sure, people talk about all kinds of stuff at the office, but surely everyone has better things to do than sound like they're auditioning for Fox News.

Man, a hybrid of plant and ghost.

He who considers himself a paragon of wisdom is sure to commit some superlatively stupid act.

I wasn't saying that in a sense that I didn't plan on scoring any goals. This won't happen again. It would be nice if it did, but it's reality.

You always love playing in finals at any tournament. The grand slams and stuff like that are obviously the priorities but any titles go on your record.

I write a song because I want to. I think the moment you start writing it to make money, you're starting to kill yourself artistically.

Women want to see the truth. They don't want to see some perfect girl.

Solitude is a way to defend the spirit against the murderous din of our materialism.

Music and film are parallel experiences: they are linear, they are narrative.