“People were as they were, not not as he wished them to be.”
“I wish people were all trees and I think I could enjoy them then.”
“When two people were in love you had to leave them to it. Especially when you weren't in love and wished that you were. That could embarrass. That could hurt.”
“No poet or novelist wishes he was the only one who ever lived, but most of them wish they were the only one alive, and quite a number believe their wish has been granted.”
“Books are for people who wish they were somewhere else.”
“I wish she was dead,' he says. 'I wish they were all dead and we were, too. It would be best.”