All a work of art can do is present the surface. I can't know the insides of people. I know very little about the inside of myself.

Fictional characters are made of words, not flesh; they do not have free will, they do not exercise volition. They are easily born, and as easily killed off.

In order really to write one has to sink deep into the self and become lost there.

All my life I have lied. I lied to escape, I lied to be loved, I lied for placement and power; I lied to lie. It was a way of living; lies are life's almost-anagram.

The past beats inside me like a second heart.

If I was asked to say what was the greatest invention of human beings, I would say the sentence.

Everything we do is tinged with the knowledge that this may be the last time that we will do this, and that makes what we're doing incredibly sweet.

We carry the dead with us only until we die too, and then it is we who are borne along for a little while, and then our bearers in their turn drop, and so on into the unimaginable generations.

To take possession of a city of which you are not a native you must first fall in love there.

For memory, we use our imagination. We take a few strands of real time and carry them with us, then like an oyster we create a pearl around them.

A man is not much if he can't depend on himself, and nothing if others can't depend on him.

Knowing leads to caring.

Armed violence and peace cannot coexist. We need to overcome the challenges we face and seek practical solutions. We must replace the culture of war with the culture of peace.

Vision differentiates between a follower and a leader.

An honest politician is an oxymoron.

Men must stop being jealous of their power and generously allow freedom and responsibility to others. The reward is harmonious families and society.

I also learned that I love making money. Anyone who is not afraid of work will be happy with the money they make.

I think if everyone is clean, then who cares about how you're tested?

Rejoice and love yourself today 'Cause baby, you were born this way.

There was an unbelievable amount of animosity in that war [for America Independence] which people have forgotten, which was still around 50 years later.

Education is the instruction of the intellect in the laws of Nature.