An' I got to thinkin', on'y it wasn't thinkin', it was deeper down than thinkin'.

If you're in trouble, or hurt or need - go to the poor people. They're the only ones that'll help - the only ones.

And the little screaming fact that sounds through all history: repression works only to strengthen and knit the repressed.

It was her habit to build up laughter out of inadequate materials.

Don't you love Jesus?' Well, I thought an' I thought an' finally I says, 'No, I don't know nobody name' Jesus. I know a bunch of stories, but I only love people.

You got a God. Don't make no difference if you don' know what he looks like.

The fields were fruitful, and starving men moved on the roads.

The last clear definite function of men—muscles aching to work, minds aching to create beyond the single need—this is man.

Death was a friend, and sleep was Death's brother.

The bank - the monster has to have profits all the time. It can't wait. It'll die. No, taxes go on. When the monster stops growing, it dies. It can't stay one size.

Muscles aching to work, minds aching to create - this is man.

Today, as a result of a miraculous set of circumstances, Iran is going to get between $50 to $55 billion in oil revenue, which is unheard of in the history of the revolution.

I keep reverting (to Duke Ellington), he to me is the greatest ever and my favorite jazz philosopher, as such.

What is common sense? That which attracts the least opposition that which brings most agreeable and worthy results.

As such, anything is always possible, even if your protagonist is a plumber. But it's the possibility, the limitless possibilities, of any fake life, that make writing about it so challenging.

I don't want to get into some sort of back-and-forth on insults because that just drags everybody down.

There is a certain tendency on the part of some Americans to treat the UN as a multilateralism à la carte where you pick and choose where it suits you and when it doesn't suit you, you pull back.

My dog, Puffy. The dog is the perfect portrait subject. He doesn't pose. He isn't aware of the camera.

I don't see dramatic television because my wife is a political junkie, and we have 12 sets going night and day so she doesn't miss a word walking from room to room.

It's my job to spread deviance to the American youth.

All the arts are brothers; each one is a light to the others.