The world outside existed in a kind of darkness; and we inquired about nothing.

That element of surprise is what I look for when I am writing. It is my way of judging what I am doing - which is never an easy thing to do.

The world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing, have no place in it.

One isn’t born one’s self. One is born with a mass of expectations, a mass of other people’s ideas – and you have to work through it all.

Most people are not really free. They are confined by the niche in the world that they carve out for themselves. They limit themselves to fewer possibilities by the narrowness of their vision.

It is wrong to have an ideal view of the world. That's where the mischief starts. That's where everything starts unravelling.

The only lies for which we are truly punished are those we tell ourselves.

Home is, I suppose just a child's idea. A house at night, and a lamp in the house. A place to feel safe.

One always writes comedy at the moment of deepest hysteria.

The world is always in movement.

All the details of the life and the quirks and the friendships can be laid out for us, but the mystery of the writing will remain. No amount of documentation, however fascinating, can take us there.

Towards these weeks of rain I give effusive praise. Let me always be reminded that there is time for change.

But I believe I rather like superstitious people. They lend color to life. Wouldn't it be a rather drab world if everybody was wise and sensible . . . and good? What would we find to talk about?

Upon the lips of babes asleep I saw light embracing light and so allowed my syllables to rest there as a prayer they might sing in their dreams...

That is who I was yesterday. Today I walk with God.

By not asking too much, you can believe in almost anything..like..a starry night in the mountains, or even the existence of fate.

The world is no longer closed to us in the way it was in the past - present generations have unparalleled access to pretty much all corners of the globe.

All I've done is give you a book. You have to have the courage to learn what's inside it.

It isn't what you leave your children but how you leave them.

Take me with you. For laughs, for luck, for the unknown. Take me with you.

I can't find someone funny whom I don't like. Hitler told great jokes. I didn't find it funny at all.