Man is not the sum of what he has already, but rather the sum of what he does not yet have, of what he could have.

The act of writing is a way of tricking yourself into revealing something that you would never consciously put into the world. Sometimes I'm shocked by the deeply personal things I've put into books without realizing it.

I got a fancy reputation. During high school, every puzzle that was known to man must have come to me. Every damn, crazy conundrum that people had invented, I knew.

What can everyone do? Praise and blame. This is human virtue, this is human madness.

If only for the sake of elegance, I try to remain morally pure.