“Art is amoral, whether we accept this or not; it does not take sides. The finest fictions are cold at heart.”

“Fictional characters are made of words, not flesh; they do not have free will, they do not exercise volition. They are easily born, and as easily killed off.”

“It seems to me a work of art is the evidence offered by a fantastically observant witness”

“I am not all sneers and scathings, you see, I have my gentler side.”

“Together they will spend a happy hour seated side by side..., while Ivy's tender hand guides Duffy's as he traces out laboriously, in pencil, over and over until he has them off pat, the magic letters of his name. More than the wedding itself, that little ceremony there under the lamp, all silent save for the soft scratching of graphite on paper, will mark the true beginning of their life together.”

“The past beats inside me like a second heart.”

“I would have made her a part of me. If I could, I would have had a notch cut in my already aging side and a slip of her, my young rose, inserted there and lashed to me with twine.”