“Ima nas previše,pomislio je.Ima nas na milijarde,a to je previše.Nitko nikoga n pozna.Neznanci dođu i oskvrnu te.Neznanci dođu i izvade ti srce.”

“Svatko mora ostaviti nešto iza sebe kad umre,rekao je moj djed.Dijete,knjigu,sliku,kuću,podignuti zid ili par napravljenih cipela.Ili zasađen vrt.Nešto što je tvoja ruka dodirnula na neki način tako da ti duša ima kamo otići kad umreš.Pa kad ljudi pogledaju to stablo ili taj cvijet koji si posadio,ti si u njemu.Nije važno što radiš,rekao je,bitno je da si nešto što si dodirnuo promijenio iz onog stanja u kojem je bilo prije no što si ga dotaknuo u nešto što, nakon što odmakneš ruke,nalikuje tebi.”

“Djevojka?Tempirana bomba.Prema onome što sam vidio u njezinom školskom dosjeu,obitelj je,siguran sam,utjecala na njezinu podsvijest.Nije željela saznati kako je nešto napravljeno,nego zašto.To može biti nezgodno.Upitaš li za veći broj stvari zašto,na kraju ćeš-ustraješ li-biti zaista nesretan.”

“Pogledaj taj svijet tamo vani,Bože,moj Bože,pogledaj ga tamo vani,izvan mene,vani onkraj moga lica!Jedini način da ga stvarno dodirneš jest da ga staviš ondje gdje će on konačno postati ja,ondje u moj krvotok,odakle će kolati tisuću,deset tisuća puta dnevno.Čvrsto ću ga ščepati da mi nikada ne utekne.Čvrsto ću ščepati svijet jednoga dana.Već mi je jedan prst na njemu.”

“I am a librarian. I discovered me in the library. I went to find me in the library. Before I fell in love with libraries, I was just a six-year-old boy. The library fueled all of my curiosities, from dinosaurs to ancient Egypt. When I graduated from high school in 1938, I began going to the library three nights a week. I did this every week for almost ten years and finally, in 1947, around the time I got married, I figured I was done. So I graduated from the library when I was twenty-seven. I discovered that the library is the real school.”

“Nobody listens anymore. I can't talk to the walls because they're yelling at me, I can't talk to my wife; she listens to the walls. I just want someone to hear what I have to say. And maybe if I talk long enough it'll make sense. And I want you to teach me to understand what I read.”

“I want to hold onto this funny thing. God, it's gotten big on me. I don't know what it is. I'm so damned unhappy, I'm so mad, and I don't know why. I feel like I'm putting on weight. I feel fat. I feel like I'm saving a lot of things, and I don't know what. I might even start reading books.”