Nick Hornby

“It's no good pretending that any relationship has a future if your record collections disagree violently or if your favorite films wouldn't even speak to each other if they met at a party.”

“What came first, the music or the misery? Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?”

“Hard is trying to rebuild yourself, piece by piece, with no instruction book, and no clue as to where all the important bits are supposed to go.”

“I fell in love with football as I was later to fall in love with women: suddenly, inexplicably, uncritically, giving no thought to the pain or disruption it would bring with it.”

“The natural state of the football fan is bitter disappointment, no matter what the score.”

“You have to be careful of the links between music and memories. Certain tunes can sabotage you.”

“That's the thing about great art. It looks easy.”

“It seems to me that if you're unhappy with another person, you should just leave. But if you're unhappy with yourself, you should love yourself more, and that's a much harder thing to do.”

“One of the many things I have learned over the years is that you should never judge a book by its cover. And you shouldn't judge a book by its first few pages, either.”

“The point is, we all get what we want, but we don't get what we want when we want it.”

“Sentimentality is a form of fatigue.”

“I've got to be able to get my thoughts out somewhere. I'm not a painter, I'm not a musician. I'm a writer, that's what I do.”

“You're not a proper man until you've had a baby. They change you.”

“Reading is a completely individual and personal act.”

“Some people are nice and some people aren't. And that's all there is to it.”