“If a novel's salient aim is virtue, I want to throw it against the wall.”

“Get thee to the novel! - the novel, that word-woven submarine, piloted by intimation and intuition, that will dive you to the deeps of the heart's maelstrom.”

“Lie, illusion, deception, she said--was that it truly, the universal language we all speak?”

“A writer is dreamed and transfigured into being by spells, wishes, goldfish, silhouettes of trees, boxes of fairy tales dropped in the mud, uncles' and cousins' books, tablets and capsules and powd...”

“The novella will be called, I think, The Messiah of Stockholm. It takes place in Stockholm. Id better say no more, or the Muse will wipe it out.”

“Profound subject matter can be encompassed in small space - for proof, look at any sonnet by Shakespeare!”

“every time God forgives us, God is saying that God's own rules do not matter as much as the relationship that God wants to create with us.”

“I've never heard anyone say "I wish I hadn't forgiven.”

“We are told that people stay in love because of chemistry, or because they remain intrigued with each other, because of many kindnesses, because of luck. But part of it has got to be forgiveness an...”