The mathematical sciences wield their particular language made of digits and signs, no less subtle than any other.

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.

Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.

What's happened to me, ' he thought. It was no dream.

Truly embracing the fragility and tensions of life...brings with it the possibility of true joy.

One principle reason why men are so often useless is that they ... divide and shift their attention among a multitude of objects and pursuits.

I'm just myself, so I don't know that I think of myself as a nerd icon.

My books are character-driven. They're not driven by the story.

One thing I discovered is that the book world is vast. It's easy to walk around the store - even the room with literature and poetry, where I work most often - and feel overwhelmed.

If carrots got you drunk, rabbits would be messed-up.

The number of maternal deaths is significantly understated because of a lack of effective data collection both in the US and around the world.

I want deeper connections with the people around me. I need to reach out more. Because not everyone leaves. Sometimes if you reach out, the person you’re trying to reach will be right there waiting.