“It is not often that you see life and fiction take each other by the hand and dance.”

“Irony has always seemed the best approach to life, the best way to keep it at arm's length.”

“When we first arrived at Auschwitz there were birds. I didn't know what kind, just brown birds, like the finches. They came for about a week and then the Nazis electrified the fences. I was out early the first morning they had the power on. A whole flight of these little birds came in and as they settled on the wire they made quick bright bursts of flame and smoke. The others did not know what was happening and they kept coming in and getting incinerated. The next day the birds did not come close to the camp. We saw them in the distance for a few days, but they never came close. At first I thought they had just naturally learned a lesson, but then I realized they had become sensitive to evil.”

“Many men would take the death-sentence without a whimper, to escape the life-sentence which fate carries in her other hand.”

“Their hatred is so passionate that I can't help but wonder if they're attracted to each other.”

“Only it seems to me that once in your life before you die you ought to see a country where they don't talk in English and don't even want to.”

“If you want to write fiction, the best thing you can do is take two aspirins, lie down in a dark room, and wait for the feeling to pass.”