That is the greatness of literature, and its paradox, that in reading about fictional others we end up reading about ourselves. Sometimes this unwitting self-examination provokes smiles of recognition...
Territories in the wild are large not as a matter of taste but of necessity. In a zoo, we do for animals what we have done for ourselves with houses: we bring together in a small space what in the wil...
Surely we are also permitted doubt. But we must move on. To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.
Stories--individual stories, family stories, national stories--are what stitch together the disparate elements of human existence into a coherent whole. We are story animals.
Religion faces the same problem. Certain illusions about freedom plague them both.
Readers walked away, their faces lit up because they'd met him, while his was lit up because he'd met them. Henry had written a novel because there was a hole in him that needed filling, a question th...
One might even argue that if an animal could choose with intelligence, it would opt for living in a zoo, since the major difference between a zoo and the wild is the absence of parasites and enemies a...
One discovers weeping - one's weeping personality - only upon weeping. It is a strange discovery, not only to others but to oneself. p 49
Nem! Nem! Nem! A szenvedésem igenis számít. Élni akarok. Muszáj belekevernem az életemet a világegyetem életébe. Az élet egy kémlelőnyílás, az egyetlen pici út egy végtelenségbe – hogyan hagyhatnám ki...
My greatest wish -- other than salvation -- was to have a book. A long book with a never-ending story. One I could read again and again, with new eyes and a fresh understanding each time.
My fingers, which a second before had been taste buds savouring the food a little ahead of my mouth, became dirty under his gaze. They froze like criminals caught in the act. I didn’t dare lick them....
Music is a bird's answer to the noise and heaviness of words. It puts the mind in a state of exhilerated speechlessness.
Miért költöznek el az emberek? Mi veszi rá őket, hogy feltépjék gyökereiket és elhagyjanak mindent, amit ismernek, a látóhatáron túli ismeretlenért? Miért másszák meg a formaságoknak e Mount Everestjé...
Love is hard to believe, ask any lover. Life is hard to believe, ask any scientist. God is hard to believe, ask any believer. What is your problem with hard to believe? We’re just being reasonable. So...
Look: Christ on the Cross died of suffocation, but His only complaint was of thirst. If thirst can be so taxing that even God Incarnate complains about it, imagine the effect on a regular human. It
It’s important in life to conclude things properly. Only then can you let go. Otherwise you are left with words you should have said but never did, and your heart is heavy with remorse. That
It's important in life to conclude things properly. Only then can you let go. Otherwise you are left with words you should have said but never did, and your heart is heavy with remorse. Page 316
It was my first clue that atheists are my brothers and sisters of a different faith, and every word they speak speaks of faith. Like me, they go as far as the legs of reason will carry them - and then...
It is simple and brutal: a person can get used to anything, even to killing.
If you stumble about believability, what are you living for? Love is hard to believe, ask any lover. Life is hard to believe, ask any scientist. God is hard to believe, ask any believer. What is your...