I don't think we have thought of ourselves, at least in a modern iteration, as being a nationalist country or a country that has nationalist movements.

A handkerchief can never be put in another pocket after it has been in one pocket. I don't walk under ladders. I have items of clothing that are lucky for me. That rotates, but I am luck-oriented.

Clearly, there has been a lack of imagination about how much can go wrong.

If you're someone people count on, particularly in difficult moments, that's a sign of a life lived honorably.

I have a file of letters and bits of ephemera from friends who have died. I have had lots of friends who died of AIDS.

Here’s the thing about rights. They’re not actually supposed to be voted on. That’s why they’re called rights.

I'm undoubtedly a liberal, which means that I'm in almost total agreement with the Eisenhower-era Republican party platform.

Hopefully life is long. Do stuff you will enjoy thinking about and telling stories about for many years to come. Do stuff you will want to brag about.

I really believe in trying to increase the amount of useful information in the world and in being accurate in the sense that you can take what I say to the bank, even if you disagree with me.

Bernie Sanders are the only person who talks about the kinds of things that might be driving people to support Donald Trump in such large numbers in the Republican Party.

Activism is setting a goal of something you would like to be different, and figuring out what would have to change to achieve that goal. It's sort of like math.

I sat down and knitted for some time - my usual resource under discouraging circumstances.

I smiled sadly and whispered, "I would have taken a bullet for you, too, you know.""I know, " he whispered gruffly and lifted my chin, "and that pisses me off and turns me on at the same time.

You gotta lose 'em some of the time. When you do, lose 'em right.

The whole idea that what is not normal should be kept secret - that's really distasteful to me.

The whole thing of life and all the answers to everything are in one divine law, Karma action and reaction.

[Spielberg and I] had a disagreement over what God was....He thought God was Stephen Spielberg, but that thought had never occurred to me.

Lawrence Millman is a favorite writer of mine. He did a travels on the trail of the Vikings.

Ugly live up on the inside. Ugly be a hurtful, mean person.

It's not nice to make fun of people with issues.

I was cynical about Iraq. But when I saw the Iraqi people voting . . . it was the start of a new Arab world.. The Berlin Wall has fallen.