“ Spanish rain,A maiden’s dress,Apothecary pillsAnd ancient thrills;Melancholy killsA girl’s caress.(—Roman Payne; Valencia, Spain, November 2nd 2012) Roman Payne
“ I sat up in the strange bed fearing it had been a dream, afraid I would never see her again. Not because I wanted anything from her, only her presence. The disappearance of the presence of beauty is t… Roman Payne
“ Spanish rain,A maiden’s dress,Apothecary pillsAnd ancient thrills;Melancholy killsA girl’s caress. Roman Payne
“ In Sanskrit, there exists no word for ‘The Individual’ (L’Individu). En Grèce antique, il n’y avait aucun mot pour dire ‘Devoir’ (Duty). In French, the word for ‘Wife’ is the same as the word for ‘Wom… Roman Payne
“ What a face this girl possessed!—could I not gaze at it every day I would need to recreate it through painting, sculpture, or fatherhood until a second such face is born. Her face, at once innocent an… Roman Payne
“ Being the Novelist-in-Residence at a riad hotel in the kasbah of an Arabic North African city is a lot like trying to write one’s memoirs on shreds of napkins in a nuthouse. Roman Payne
“ The comedy in our lives was those first few weeks we lived together in Paris: Our bodies desired one another, our souls opened for one another. We experienced all of the happiness and anguish of first… Roman Payne
“ From all that I saw,and everywhere I wandered,I learned that time cannot be spent,It only can be squandered. Roman Payne
“ In my errant life I roamedTo learn the secrets of women and men,Of gods and dreams.I've known all the countries of our world,I've lived a thousand lives:Many lives I lived in love, Other lives I squan… Roman Payne
“ I wandered everywhere, through cities and countries wide. And everywhere I went, the world was on my side. Roman Payne
“ The disappearance of the presence of beauty is the most despairing of events on this time-wheel of ours that rolls onward towards death. Roman Payne
“ This was the first time I thought of S— that day. Her music was beautiful, her voice was beautiful, her body was beautiful. Even the dirty little pads of her feet were beautiful. I cursed myself then.… Roman Payne
“ Looking back on my life, I sigh. The caprice of youth goes with the wind, I’ve no regrets. Roman Payne
“ Although I love elegant parties, dancing and dining and spending the night with a sweet woman in my arms, my life belongs to literature. Roman Payne
“ After joyfully working each morning, I would leave off around midday to challenge myself to a footrace. Speeding along the sunny paths of the Jardin du Luxembourg, ideas would breed like aphids in my… Roman Payne
“ Without knowing why or how, I found myself in love with this strange Wanderess. Maybe I was just in love with the dream she was selling me: a life of destiny and fate; as my own life up until we met h… Roman Payne
“ Ô, wine!, the truth-serum so potent that all those who wish to live happy lives should abstain from drinking it entirely!... except of course when they are alone. Roman Payne
“ I was surrounded by friends, my work was immense, and pleasures were abundant. Life, now, was unfolding before me, constantly and visibly, like the flowers of summer that drop fanlike petals on eterna… Roman Payne
