“One kind of good book should leave you asking: how did the author know that about me?”

“It's clear to me that there is no good reason for many philosophy books to sound as complicated as they do.”

“Books should be full of stuff you could never say to people in public.”

“Despite the best efforts of critics and the hopes of authors, our tastes in books are probably as inherent & unbudgeable as those in food.”

“Booksellers are the most valuable destination for the lonely, given the numbers of books written because authors couldn't find anyone to talk to.”

“Writing a book has about it some of the anxiety of telling a joke and having to wait several years to know whether or not it was funny.”

“It is perhaps sad books that best console us when we are sad, and to lonely service stations that we should drive when there is no one for us to hold or love.”