The central problem of novel-writing is causality.

So plant your own gardens and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.

Being with you and not being with you is the only way I have to measure time.

Don't talk unless you can improve the silence.

I am not sure that I exist, actually. I am all the writers that I have read, all the people that I have met, all the women that I have loved; all the cities I have visited.

I cannot sleep unless I am surrounded by books.

The worst labyrinth is not that intricate form that can entrap us forever, but a single and precise straight line

The fact is that poetry is not the books in the library . . . Poetry is the encounter of the reader with the book, the discovery of the book.

Nothing is built on stone; all is built on sand, but we must build as if the sand were stone.

I can give you my loneliness, my darkness, the hunger of my heart, I am trying to bribe you with uncertainty, with danger, with defeat.

The original is unfaithful to the translation.

Happiness is not something you pursue, it is a state of mind and a feeling of positivity, within.

A good conscience is eight parts of courage.

The world of wonders!

Excellence is the best weapon against prejudice.

You have to be very brave and very entrepreneurial - you have to dare to create your own brand.

There's a difference to being humble and being humbled

When life has gone into overtime it's easy to take liberties.

Only puny secrets need protection. Big discoveries are protected by public incredulity.

The cause of all sins in every case lies in the person's excessive love of self.