All autobiography is fiction.

Panic is efficient. Panic is effective. Panic is the way I get things done! Panic attacks are my booster rockets!

When faced with writer's block, lower your standards and keep going.

living in Los Angeles was like being an extra in a movie that was starring other people entirely.

Los Angeles is the nation's cultural scapegoat.

Almost 50 years old now, some 30 years after graduation, I look at my Caltech classmates and conclude that math whizzes do not take over the world.

Typically, middle-class educated parents' search for their children's schools takes on the feel, if not of teen girls trying on different outfits, of adolescents trying on various selves.

In the end, the real wisdom of menopause may be in questioning how fun or even sane this chore wheel called modern life actually is.

Lord, what fools these mortals be!

Sadly, peaks and valleys are a part of life. You are resilient and you will come out of this stronger than you ever thought possible. Trust me—I know. It’s crucial to remain positive and optimistic.

I don't find these technical things like flowers and chocolates romantic at all. I think Valentine's Day makes no sense.

I don't write songs about a specific, elusive thing. I write about love, and everyone knows what it is like to have your heart broken.

Losers assemble in small groups & complain, winners assemble as a team & find ways to win.

When I'm working I actually forget to eat. I don't eat sweets because I don't care about them. I have no real secrets. I just realize that as I get older I should stay strong so I exercise more.

One who is always deeply involved in what he is doing is above all embarrassment.

My desire for the part of Mammy was not dominated by selfishness for Hollywood has been good to me and I am grateful

I respect Millar, sir: he has raised the price of literature.

I needed to go . . . the pull of Everest was stronger for me than any force on earth.