[My early stories] are the work of a living writer whom I know in a sense, but can never meet.

One can live in the shadow of an idea without grasping it.

Silences have a climax, when you have got to speak.

When you love someone all your saved up wishes start coming out.

Jealousy is no more than feeling alone against smiling enemies.

Some people are molded by their admirations, others by their hostilities.

We are minor in everything but our passions.

Pity the selfishness of lovers: it is brief, a forlorn hope; it is impossible.

Fate is not an eagle, it creeps like a rat.

It is not helpful to help a friend by putting coins in his pockets when he has got holes in his pockets.

Disappointment tears the bearable film off life.

The cop looks annoyed, like we're giving him a headache. I want to explain everything to him that its really not as screwed up as it all sounds, but then I remember that it is.

Confess your sins, pray towards the Heavens and be set free from all bondages.

Money will make you more of what you already are. If you're not a nice person, money's going to make you a despicable individual. If you're a good person, money's going to make you a better person.

Elegance is refusal.

I was aroused for 24 hours straight!

If we [humans] disappeared overnight, the world would probably be better off.

Tell me how much you know of the sufferings of your fellowmen and I will tell you how much you have loved them.

Whenever I meet someone, I try to imagine her wearing an invisible sign that says: MAKE ME FEEL IMPORTANT. I respond to this sign immediately, and it works wonders.

If every man's internal care Were written on his brow, How many would our pity share Who raise our envy now?

Style to me is incidental. The British are very adept at creating it for its own sake, but the best style is incidental. John Coltrane had a style but it was totally incidental to what he was.