“If every event which occurred could be given a name, there would be no need for stories.”

“The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”

“I fell victim to the temptation of every autobiographer, to the illusion that since the past exists only in one's memories and the words which strive vainly to encapsulate them, it is possible to create past events simply by saying they occurred.”

“This was an interesting thought; it had never occurred to me that one's name could be a compass.”

“Every life has a story and every story needs a writer.”

“Every journey into the past is complicated by delusions, false memories, false namings of real events”