The difference between being Achilles and almost being Achilles is the difference between living and dying.

Real people are made out of a whole lot of things—flesh, bone, blood, nerves, stuff like that. Literary people are made out of words.

The real reason for quest is always self-knowledge.

Every language has a grammar, a set of rules that govern usage and meaning, and literary language is no different. It’s all more or less arbitrary of course, just like language itself.

Reading is an activity of the imagination, and the imagination in question is not the writer's alone.

If a story is no good, being based on Hamlet won't save it.

Rain falls on the just and the unjust alike.

In order to remain undead, I must steal the life force of someone whose fate matters less to me than my own.' I've always supposed that Wall Street traders utter essentially the same sentence.

Please note, I am not suggesting that illicit drugs are required to break down social barriers.

Now, Joyce being Joyce, he has about five different purposes, one not being enough for genius.

I thought everything in the world was already discovered. Already in my books. A lot of dead stuff that put me to sleep. That was the day I understood the world is still living.

Drink today and drown all sorrow You shall perhaps not do it tomorrow.

Everyone knows marriage is tough.

Do I regret getting married? It's hard for me to say anything because ultimately we're talking about the mother of my child.

If you can concentrate on what you're doing and have the desire to do the things you have to do to win, you'll succeed.

I think a lot of music that's really innovative is not even considered because it was made by people who had a sexual image. And people assume that it's a commodified thing, so it can't be "indie."

The only difference between black coal and a precious diamond is the amount of pressure it endured.

Chastity is not chastity in an old man, but a disability to be unchaste.

From the first time someone says, Who do you think you are? we learn how to repress.

What motivates most gold purchasers is their belief that the ranks of the fearful will grow ... As 'bandwagon' investors join any party, they create their own truth - for a while.