Your Absence quotes

A mental stain can neither be blotted out by the passage of time nor washed away by any waters.

For me, books have always been a way to feel less alone while being alone. Perhaps if I was depressed and isolated, just communicating with these authors through their sentences helped me.

One of my pet theories is that readers have built-in BS detectors that enable them to recognize insincerity in writers. David [Halberstam] was sincerity to the core. He believed in what he wrote, and that conviction conveyed itself to readers.

But that's the hardest part of healing.' What?' Realizing there's no one to hate.

Talent is long patience.

Even potential human life needs to be treated with great respect.

Nature is cold, wet, hard and unforgiving.

I would try and help everybody, because the game was so easy for me. It was just like walking in the park.

The aim was simple: to deprive Karpov of his favourite occupation - standing at the board, staring straight at his opponent. While I was wearing these glasses, all he could admire was his own reflection.

There is no such thing as a homosexual or a heterosexual person. There are only homo- or heterosexual acts. Most people are a mixture of impulses if not practices.