Contemporary writers annoyed him, he found their worlds insular, their style too self-conscious and ironic. Theirs was not a literature that belonged to him.

He imagined forgiveness was like flying, that it made you soar. He imagined that it looked like an eagle, a silver bolt in the sky, that it was pure light.

It is gaol that finally reveals to me the beauty of Shakespeare, the spirit in his words, the jaw-dropping audacity of his language.

I love to sleep. Do you? Isn't it great? It really is the best of both worlds. You get to be alive and unconscious.

I'm a pretty happy dude, and don't let much get to me. If something does, I don't like to hold onto it.

In a way, a jail is a place where you can rest, read books and live with yourself.

Abraham Lincoln is resolute, honest, has the best interest of the nation at heart, and he's as ugly as homemade Sunday sin, so he is modest, too. I'd vote for that in an undead heartbeat.

I don't tell the truth, I tell what ought to be the truth.

She seemed to melt against him in her terror, and he caught her in his arms, held her fast there, felt her lashes beat his cheek like netted butterflies.

All the words are already there when you're singing onstage, it's fantastic. You can lose yourself in what you've created. You're controlling this freedom.

We have millions of unemployed and cannot afford any more immigration. Where are they supposed to live? It is not viable.

Is it my sweat that's no longer sweet?

No is the foundation that we can build our yes on.