Meaning is context bound, but context is boundless

Poetry lies at the centre of the literary experience because it is the form that most clearly asserts the specificity of literature.

The poem is a structure of signifiers which absorbs and reconstitutes the signified.

Los Angeles makes the rest of California seem authentic.

She did not think it was true that women fell in love all at once, but rather, that they fell in love through repitition, just the way someone became brave.

She was waiting, but she didn't know for what. She was aware only of her solitude, and of the penetrating cold, and of a greater weight in the region of her heart.

It is unreasonable ... to oblige a man not to attempt the defense of his own life.

Happiness consists of being able to tell the truth without hurting anyone.

Confusing the author and the character seems to be a popular and rather unsophisticated reaction to books.

I read the Bible to myself; I'll take any translation, any edition, and read it aloud, just to hear the language, hear the rhythm, and remind myself how beautiful English is.

Finally, be kind to yourself and have a good support system.

Politics are for foreigners with their endless wrongs and paltry rights. Politics are a lousy way to get things done. Politics are, like God's infinite mercy, a last resort.

If you try to observe the precepts, that is not true observation of precepts. When you observe the precepts without trying to observe the precepts, that is true observation of the precepts.