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The function of literature, through all its mutations, has been to make us aware of the particularity of selves, and the high authority of the self in its quarrel with its society and its culture. Literature is in that sense subversive.

I strongly believe that literature can do something that nothing else can do, and that is embody the human spirit.

Literature sucks you into another psyche. So the creation of empathy necessarily influences how you'll behave to other people.

I love literature deeply. I view books as sacred things, and in writing my story, I'm going to do my best to honor the form that has played such a huge part in shaping who I am.

When literature exists, perhaps we do not notice how important it is, but when it does not exist, our lives become coarsened and brutal. For this reason, I am proud of my profession, but also aware of its importance.

Literature is an avenue to glory, ever open for those ingenious men who are deprived of honours or of wealth.

Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity.

The attempt to devote oneself to literature alone is a most deceptive thing, and often, paradoxically, it is literature that suffers for it.

Again, both literature and philosophy work by appealing to certain reigning idols.

In an oppressive society the truth-telling nature of literature is of a different order, and sometimes valued more highly than other elements in a work of art.