He was so lonely that he laughed at himself.

There isn't any such thing as an ordinary life. (92)

Nobody with any real sense of humor *can* write a love story. . . . Shakespeare is the exception that proves the rule. (90-91)

My pen shall heal, not hurt.

Don't try to write anything you can't feel - it will be a failure - 'echoes nothing worth

Fear is a vile thing, and is at the bottom of almost every wrong and hatred of the world.

Satirize wickedness if you must--but pity weakness.

No one can be free who has a thousand ancestors.

I have made up my mind that I will never marry. I shall be wedded to my art.

Lovely thoughts came flying to meet me like birds. They weren't my thoughts. I couldn't think anything half so exquisite. They came from somewhere.

[Ilse] was suffering so keenly that she wanted to arraign the universe at the bar of her pain.

Asia is still dominated by skyscrapers. I hope that, in European cities, it will become a declining trend. They were almost never necessary.

But I could be wrong.

I jotted down Oslo After Death. This would be a great title for a book, I thought. That is what I do sometimes. I jot down titles for books that I one day intend to write.

Labour is a great leveler of all distinctions.

The Thriller album is still the biggest album of all time. That is still returning huge royalty cheques.

The Internet right now is another way to get exposure. You depend on that because they give you press, and if it's successful it gets into a lot of festivals.

Things you did. Things you never did. Things you dreamed. After a long time they run together.

If you comprehend, it is not God.

The true purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer, not to make you money.

We cannot even recollect the actions of our infancy, our childhood is like something written on a slate and rubbed off.