As a defense lawyer, he refused to condemn his clients. Everyone else in the system-the cops, the prosecutors, the juries and judges-would take care of that; they didn't need his help.

The prosecutor, who is supposed to carry the burden of proof, really is an author.

I cannot think of a day in my life when the library didn’t exert a potent attraction for me, offering a sense of the specialness of each individual’s curiosity and his or her quest to satisfy it.

Nobody ever gets what they want when it comes to love.

What kills a person at twenty-five? Leukemia. An accident. But George knows the better odds are that someone who passes at that age dies of unhappiness. Drug overdose. Suicide. Reckless behavior.

Widespread public access to knowledge, like public education, is one of the pillars of our democracy, a guarantee that we can maintain a well-informed citizenry.

I count myself as one of millions of Americans whose life simply would not be the same without the libraries that supported my learning.

Life is simply experience; for reasons not readily discerned, we attempt to go on.

The purpose of narrative is to present us with complexity and ambiguity.

'Torts' more or less means 'wrongs'...One of my friends said that Torts is the course which proves that your mother was right.

Who are we but the stories we tell about ourselves, particularly if we accept them?

I can’t chitchat and make breakfast at the same time. You could help, you know, instead of standing there like the Queen of England. Although you’re a lot better-looking.

...a row of tables manned by seated, serious women. Each woman looked like she could be someone's least-favourite aunt.

Left all my Beatle records out in the sun, got a coke bottle stuck on the end of my tongue.

Can you imagine that Cuba and Europe's youth, who had forgotten about traditional music, who only thought of rock music, are now looking back towards their grandparents? That is a phenomenon.

I always mean what I say, but I don't always say what I'm thinking.

The world had ended, so why had the battle not ceased, the castle fallen silent in horror, and every combatant laid down their arms?

Our educational system now teaches every kid the same thing. It's like rubber stamping!

In the golden lightning Of the sunken sun O'er which clouds are brightening, Thou dost float and run Like an unbodied joy whose race is just begun.

When you write something it has to hit the level that you accept as being good.