Fundamentally, all writing is about the same thing; it's about dying, about the brief flicker of time we have here, and the frustration that it creates.

If you caricature friends in your first novel they will be upset, but if you don't they will feel betrayed.

A boy can be two, three, four potential people, but a man is only one. He murders the others.

There are three sides to every argument. Yours. The other guy's. And the right side.

Nothing is absolute any longer. There is a choice of beliefs and a choice of truths to go with them. If you choose not to choose then there is no truth at all. There are only points of view.

There are ten commandments, right? Well, it's like an exam. You get eight out of ten, you're just about top of the class.

I'm criticized by the feminists, by the Jewish establishment, by Canadian nationalists. And why not? I've had my pot shots at them. I'm fair game.

Beauty, like male ballet dancers, makes some men afraid.

Each man creates god in his own image.

Edmonton is not the end of the world but you can certainly see it from there.

In Canada, nobody is ever overthrown because nobody gives a damn.

It is not knowledge, but the act of learning, not the possession of but the act of getting there, which grants the greatest enjoyment.

life is always about compromises

I am one of those people who are blessed ... with a nature which has to interfere. If I see a thing that needs doing I do it.

Never assume greatness is for someone else. Imagine every day that you too can do great things. Have the courage to take the challenge, make the mistakes, and move forward.

What family doesn't have its ups and downs?

There are atheists, and I love them. In fact, I died for them.

The whole order of things is as outrageous as any miracle which could presume to violate it.

Now in reality, the world has paid too great a compliment to critics, and has imagined them to be men of much greater profundity than they really are.

If you walk through life with ease and without any sense of entanglement, that is maturity.

Even the most fickle are faithful to a few bad habits.