I do not want to talk about it.

I said nothing—I hadn’t known Marya, and anyway, “listening quietly” was my general social strategy

In a repressive society, a writer can be deeply influential, but in a society that's filled with glut and repetition and endless consumption, the act of terror may be the only meaningful act.

The modern meaning of life's end-when does it end? How does it end? How should it end? What is the value of life? How do we measure it?

I embarked on my life - I didn't do anything. I don't have an explanation.

Every sentence has a truth waiting at the end of it and the writer learns how to know it when he finally gets there.