“There must be something in books, something we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing.”

“I'm seventeen and I'm crazy. My uncle says the two always go together. When people ask your age, he said, always say seventeen and insane.”

“The books are to remind us what asses and fool we are."

“If you don't want a man unhappy politically, don't give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one."

“See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories. Ask for no guarantees, ask for no security.”

"He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask and there was no way of going to knock on her door and ask for it back.”

“‘Remember, the firemen are rarely necessary. The public itself stopped reading of its own accord.'”