People are never so completely and enthusiastically evil as when they act out of religious conviction. - Umberto Eco

In order for there to be a mirror of the world, it is necessary that the world have a form

If you want to become a man of letters and perhaps write some Histories one day, you must also lie and invent tales, otherwise your History would become monotonous. But you must act with restraint. The world condemns liars who do nothing but lie, even about the most trivial things, and it rewards poets, who lie only about the greatest things.

I wrote a novel because I had a yen to do it. I believe this is sufficient reason to set out to tell a story.