“One of the most fundamental of human fears is that our existence will go unnoticed.”

“The most fundamental tragedy of my life is that the ones who I see do not existand the one who exists I do not see.”

“People or philosophers keep saying that our fundamental objective in life is to be happy! This is wrong! Our fundamental objective in life is to exist, either happy or unhappy!”

“Human intelligence is a limited resource. It cannot solve problems caused by ignoring fundamentals of existence.”

“Ivanov's fear was of a literary nature. That is, it was the fear that afflicts most citizens who, one fine (or dark) day, choose to make the practice of writing, and especially the practice of fiction writing, an integral part of their lives. Fear of being no good. Also fear of being overlooked. But above all, fear of being no good. Fear that one's efforts and striving will come to nothing. Fear of the step that leaves no trace. Fear of the forces of chance and nature that wipe away shallow prints. Fear of dining alone and unnoticed. Fear of going unrecognized. Fear of failure and making a spectacle of oneself. But above all, fear of being no good. Fear of forever dwelling in the hell of bad writers.”

“It may help to understand human affairs to be clear that most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused, not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally bad, but by people being fundamentally people.”