For a genius to be a genius, he must have a selfless slave between himself and the world.

The human comedy is always tragic, but since its ingredients are always the same - dupe, fox, straight, like burlesque skits - the repetition through the ages is comedy.

Hold fast to whatever fragments of love that exist, for sometimes a mosaic is more beautiful than an unbroken pattern.

Satire is people as they are; romanticism, people as they would like to be; realism, people as they seem with their insides left out.

All Americans come from Ohio originally, if only briefly.

A capacity for going overboard is a requisite for a full-grown mind.

I cannot exist without the oxygen of laughter.

I realize more and more how instinctively pessimistic I am of all human kindness -- since I am always so bowled over by it -- and am never surprised by injustice, malice or personal attack.

Yet better for one of my nature to have it that way than to have life a peaceful, placid flow of quiet contentment. I must have days of rushing excitement.

Joe and Jojo and I had lovely day together. I love Joe so much - more and more.

A novel is like a gland pill - it nips off the cream of my hysterics and gets them running on track in a book where they belong instead of rioting all over my person.

A dream is a seed.Vision plants it.Imagination nurtures growth.Opportunities create blooms.Thoughts become things!

Today's temporary disappointment means tomorrows permanent appointment.

I must follow the people. Am I not their leader?

The worst thing that can happen in a democracy - as well as in an individual's life - is to become cynical about the future and lose hope.

You women could make someone fall in love even with a lie.

There is also a particular frustration that I have with language. It's so clumsy. And the reason I'm feeling that is more because on your breathing and your intonation than the actual words.

It's easy to talk to a horse if you understand his language. Horses stay the same from the day they are born until the day they die. They are only changed by the way people treat them.

I find this corpse guilty of carrying a concealed weapon and I fine it $40.

Correct one fault at a time. Concentrate on the one fault you want to overcome.

You're constantly changing man. But the film's not changing. The film stays the same. That's the beautiful aspect of it.