Yet ah! why should they know their fate?Since sorrow never comes too late,And happiness too swiftly flies.Thought would destroy their read more

Yet ah! why should they know their fate?Since sorrow never comes too late,And happiness too swiftly flies.Thought would destroy their paradise.No more; where ignorance is bliss,'Tis folly to be wise. - Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College.

Literature is the question minus the answer.

Literature is the question minus the answer.

For me, literature is a complex game, both mental and concrete, which is acted out in a physical manner on read more

For me, literature is a complex game, both mental and concrete, which is acted out in a physical manner on the page.rn

A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its read more

A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.

Literature is the orchestration of platitudes.

Literature is the orchestration of platitudes.

When I give a lecture, I accept that people look at their watches, but what I do not tolerate is read more

When I give a lecture, I accept that people look at their watches, but what I do not tolerate is when they look at it and raise it to their ear to find out if it stopped.

The essay is a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything.

The essay is a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything.

To write a good love letter, you ought to begin without knowing what you mean to say, and to finish read more

To write a good love letter, you ought to begin without knowing what you mean to say, and to finish without knowing what you have written.

Poetry is an orphan of silence. The words never quite equal the experience behind them.

Poetry is an orphan of silence. The words never quite equal the experience behind them.