“Love is an abstract noun, something nebulous. And yet love turns out to be the only part of us that is solid, as the world turns upside down and the screen goes black.”

“The universe is a million billion light-years wide, and every inch of it would kill you if you went there. This is the position of the universe with regards to human life.”

“It is straightforwardand never mind, for now, about plagues and famines: if God existed, and if he cared for humankind, he would never have given us religion.”

“The deal with multiculturalism is that the only culture you're allowed to disapprove of is your own.”

“My life looked good on paper - where, in fact, almost all of it was being lived.”

“Religious belief is without reason and without dignity, and its record is near-universally dreadful.”

“Sometimes two people have to fall apart, to realize how much they need to fall back together.”

“Good literature is one key to peace. When we stop reading each other, when we stop paying attention to each other's words and stories, we too easily oppose one another.”

“There is only one motive for writing a novel: to be published and read. To me there is no distinction between the mystery novel and the novel, only between good books and bad books. A good book tak...”