Age is a hell of a price to pay for wisdom

Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?

I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more as they get older; then it dawned on me . . they’re cramming for their final exam.

I thought about how mothers feed their babies with tiny little spoons and forks so I wondered, what do Chinese mothers use? Toothpicks?

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Some people have no idea what they're doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.

All the media and the politicians ever talk about is things that separate us, things that make us different from one another

Don’t just teach your children to read… Teach them to question what they read. Teach them to question everything.

In America, anyone can become president. That's the problem.

Those who dance are considered insane by those who cannot hear the music.

There is a planet named Pluto, but we don't have one named Goofy. Goofy would be a good name for this planet. It certainly qualifies.

One of the best ways to influence people is to make them feel important.

Let me keep my distance, always, from those who think they have the answers.Let me keep company always with those who say "Look!" and laugh in astonishment, and bow their heads.

Her giggles were light in my darkness.

The fearful are caught as often as the bold.

I was unwelcome in the U.S. for four years.

I'm ashamed to say the first play I saw at the Royal Court was mine.

School was a strange place where they tried to make you into something.

I'm vain enough to think that I've made a successful life. I've had everything I've ever wanted. You can't beat that.

Yes, but also one of the problems for a novelist in Ireland is the fact that there are no formal manners. I mean some people have beautiful manners but there's no kind of agreed form of manners.

When I was anorexic it just seemed like I literally wanted to disappear. And now I would like to reappear.