It is the story-teller's task to elicit sympathy and a measure of understanding for those who lie outside the boundaries of State approval.
Innocence is like a dumb leper who has lost his bell, wandering the world, meaning no harm.
Thrillers are like life, more like life than you are.
The economy of a novelist is a little like that of a careful housewife who is unwilling to throw away anything that might perhaps serve its turn.
Reality in our century is not something to be faced.
Innocence always calls mutely for protection when we would be so much wiser to guard ourselves against it: innocence is like a dumb leper who has lost his bell, wandering the world, meaning no harm.