“My wife's a lot younger than me ... thirty years difference . . . You should never marry a woman a lot younger than you ... Never ...”

“Did you see her again in France?" I asked him.No. When I got to France, she was already dead. She committed suicide ...Why?She often told me she was frightened of getting old...”

“No. She told me she was going to marry him, to get French nationality . . . She was obsessed with getting a nationality...”

“Did you see her again in France?" I asked him.”“No. When I got to France, she was already dead. She committed suicide ...”“Why?”“She often told me she was frightened of getting old...”

“But youre out of another world old kid You ought to live on top of the Woolworth Building in an apartment made of cutglass and cherry blossoms.”

“[Poem: Slates of Grey]Sullen faces like slates of greyWhat Id seen on a walk today.Bodies rushing bodies boltingTime for life a disregarding.Money to make and to grow oldWhat about the hands to hol...”

“I would describe the distinction between city and landscape like this: cities tend to excite and agitate me; they make me feel big or small, self-confident, proud, curious, excited, tense, annoyed....”

“But this time as soon as he moved she began to fade. He stopped at once, not breathing again, motionless, willing his eyes to see that she had stopped too. But she had not stopped. She was fading, ...”

“Nico knew something about ghosts. Letting them get inside your head was dangerous. He wanted to help Reyna, but since his own strategy was to deal with his problems alone, spurning anyone who tried...”

“It was all real and blazing with detail. But I was shadow, light as mist, mute as the wallpaper.”

“No one want to be an imitation of another”

“There is only one thing which is generally safe from plagiarism -- self-denial.”

“An original writer is not one who imitates nobody, but one whom nobody can imitate.”