In my schoolboy reveries, we were always two fugitives riding on the spine of a book, eager to escape into worlds of fiction and secondhand dreams.

People tend to complicate their own lives, as if living weren't already complicated enough.

Remember me, even if it's only in a corner and secretly. Don't let me go.

Books are mirrors: you only see in them what you already have inside you.

There are no second chances in life, except to feel remorse.

Never trust girls who let themselves be touched right away. But even less those who need a priest for approval.

The moment you stop to think about whether you love someone, you've already stopped loving that person forever.

Books hold no passports. There's only one true literary tradition: the human.

Paris is the only city in the world where starving to death is still considered an art.

Presents are made for the pleasure of who gives them, not the merits of who receives them.

People talk too much. Humans aren't descended from monkeys. They come from parrots.

Holiness consists simply in doing God's will, and being just what God wants us to be.

It is better to hug than shake hands.

Nearly all rich an powerful people are not notably talented, educated, charming or good-looking. They become rich and powerful by wanting to be rich and powerful.

When I was a teenager in New York, I was buying antique clothes. I still am.

I knew a girl, her name was Truth. She was a terrible liar.

The right good book is always a book of travel; it is about a life's journey.

I was a product of the times, the war, the occupation, the reoccupation, my 4 years in Britain, admiring but at the same time questioning whether they are able to do a better job than we can.

I believe that the best way to help people understand the world is to provide them with opportunities to actively explore, experiment, and express themselves.

You know the Singaporean. He is a hard-working, industrious, rugged individual. Or we would not have made the grade. But let us also recognise that he is a champion grumbler.