Every writer hopes or boldly assumes that his life is in some sense exemplary, that the particular will turn out to be universal.

Only in art will the lion lie down with the lamb, and the rose grow without thorn.

Religious belief is without reason and without dignity, and its record is near-universally dreadful.

Probably human cruelty is fixed and eternal. Only styles change.

My life looked good on paper - where, in fact, almost all of it was being lived.

When the past is forgotten, the present is unforgettable

Closure is a greasy little word which, moreover, describes a nonexistent condition. The truth, Venus, is that nobody gets over anything.

Perhaps there are other bits of my life that would take on content, take on shadow, if only I read more and thought less about money.

When you’ve lost all your play, guess what love becomes. Work. Work that gets harder every hour.

Love is blind; but it makes you see the blind man; teetering on the roadside . . .

Every 10 years you're a different person, and the really great books evolve with you as you get older. They're full of new rewards.

Rightness in our choice of an end is secured by [Moral] Virtue.

We may be different races and religions but we are all part of the same human family

The inward journey is about finding your own fullness, something that no one else can take away.

I had no monarch in my life, and cannot rule myself; and when I try to organize, my little force explodes and leaves me bare and charred.

Young man, if I could remember the names of these particles, I would have been a botanist.

I love the work, I love being in front of the camera and working with actors and directors and creating something. For me, it's like learning everyday.

Suspicion is the beginning of wisdom, and of madness.

I think that those wrestlers, those women and men that go in the ring are not protected. I don't think anybody is ever looking out for them and I think that they are used badly.

But rich or poor, black or white, none of us are entitled to anything.

I treat him [Donald Trump] as an entertainer. I laugh it off. It's like going to the circus and seeing the acrobats and the dancing bears. He's willing to say things that are patently false.