“It is ourselves we encounter whenever we invent fictions.”

“History is the fiction we invent to persuade ourselves that events are knowable and that life has order and direction. That's why events are always reinterpreted when values change. We need new versions of history to allow for our current prejudices.”

“We invent ourselves out of ingredients we didn't choose, by a process we can't control.”

“Truth, of course, must of necessity be stranger than fiction, for we have made fiction to suit ourselves.”

“It strikes me that this may be one of the differences between youth and age: when we are young, we invent different futures for ourselves; when we are old, we invent different pasts for others.”

“If the world is where we hide from ourselves, what do we do when the world is no longer accessible? We invent a false name, invent a destiny, purchase a firearm through the mail.”