In Sleep we lie all naked and alone in Sleep we are united at the heart of night and darkness and we are strange and beautiful asleep for we are dying the darkness and we know no death.

The most terrifying thing I can think of is being alone - and I mean utterly alone like no one else in the world alone - at night. That's the nucleus of the first story in my collection and it's also where the title came from for the book.

Getting through the nights is the toughest part. Being alone. Not having her there to talk to.

Marriage is good for those who are afraid to sleep alone at night.

Early on if I was alone two three nights in a row I'd start writing poems about suicide.

I was sleeping the other night alone thanks to the exterminator.

You are never so alone as when you are ill on stage. The most nightmarish feeling in the world is suddenly to feel like throwing up in front of four thousand people.

I used to think as I looked out on the Hollywood night 'There must be thousands of girls sitting alone like me dreaming of being a movie star.' But I'm not going to worry about them. I'm dreaming the hardest.

Some of my foster families used to send me to the movies to get me out of the house and there I'd sit all day and way into the night. Up in front there with the screen so big a little kid all alone and I loved it. I loved anything that moved up there and I didn't miss anything that happened and there was no popcorn either.

Only the lonely know the way I feel tonight.

There's a tremendous difference between alone and lonely. You could be lonely in a group of people. I like being alone. I like eating by myself. I go home at night and just watch a movie or hang out with my dog. I have to exert myself and really say oh God I've got to see my friends 'cause I'm too content being by myself.

I have to be alone very often. I'd be quite happy if I spent from Saturday night until Monday morning alone in my apartment. That's how I refuel.

In the digital age of 'overnight' success stories such as Facebook the hard slog is easily overlooked.

I would often find myself at the age of 21 at midnight running down a dark street on my own with 10 men chasing me. And the fact they had cameras in their hands made that legal.

But an old age serene and bright and lovely as a Lapland night shall lead thee to thy grave.

No lying knight or lying priest ever prospered in any age but especially not in the dark ones. Men prospered then only in following an openly declared purpose and preaching candidly beloved and trusted creeds.

Middle age is when you're sitting at home on a Saturday night and the telephone rings and you hope it isn't for you.