“When I am dead, I hope it may be said, 'His sins were scarlet, but his books were read.”

“When I'm dead, I hope it may be said: his sins were scarlet, but his books were read.”

“When I die I hope it may be said:'Her suffering was black, but her books were read'.”

“When I was a girlthe books I read were by men. ”

“Do what the Buddhists do. Every day, have a little bird on your shoulder that asks, 'Is today the day? Am I read? Am I doing all I need to do? Am I being the person i want to be?'" He turned his head to his shoulder as if the bird were there now. "Is today the day I die?" he said.”

“I often find that a novel, even a well-written and compelling novel, can become a blur to me soon after I've finished reading it. I recollect perfectly the feeling of reading it, the mood I occupied, but I am less sure about the narrative details. It is almost as if the book were, as Wittgenstein said of his propositions, a ladder to be climbed and then discarded after it has served its purpose.”