Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice.

Fallen leaves lying on the grass in the November sun bring more happiness than the daffodils.

Green leaves on a dead tree is our epitaph-green leaves, dear reader, on a dead tree.

There is no more sombre enemy of good art than the pram in the hall.

We may assume that we keep people waiting symbolically because we do not wish to see them and that our anxiety is due not to being late, but to having to see them at all.

Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.

No city should be too large for a man to walk out of in a morning.

The true index of a man's character is the health of his wife.

There are many who dare not kill themselves for fear of what the neighbours will say.

While thoughts exist, words are alive and literature becomes an escape, not from, but into living.

All charming people have something to conceal, usually their total dependence on the appreciation of others.

Love is such a tremendous force of feeling! When you can't stop loving, you simply cannot stop it.

Pathology can indeed cause experiences of the Kingdom of God, but not all God experiences are caused by pathology.

Pressure is a word that is misused in our vocabulary. When you start thinking of pressure, it's because you've started to think of failure.

Don't the great tales never end?""No, they never end as tales, " said Frodo. "But the people in them come, and go when their part's ended. Our part will end later – or sooner.

There are situations where the best solution still doesn't make everyone happy. The trick is understanding what's best.

I sometimes look into the face of my dog Stan and see a wistful sadness and existential angst, when all he is actually doing is slowly scanning the ceiling for flies.

If Carter had been there when the AIDS crisis came up, it would have been a whole different story. It could have been treated like a legitimate disease.

All you care about is how punk rock you feel when you wake up in the morning.

I'm attracted to films that have strong female characters because there are strong female characters in my life.

You'll never know why you exist, but you'll always allow yourselves to be easily persuaded to take life seriously.