I don't understand men. I don't even understand what I don't understand about men.

The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for.

[On journalists:] We are a noisy, imperfect lot, struggling to scribble what has been called the first draft of history.

Journalism, spooked by rumors of its own obsolescence, has stopped believing in itself. Groans of doom alternate with panicked happy talk.

The sounds of silence are a dim recollection now, like mystery, privacy and paying attention to one thing — or one person — at a time.

Wooing the press is an exercise roughly akin to picnicking with a tiger. You might enjoy the meal, but the tiger always eats last.

Celebrity distorts democracy by giving the rich, beautiful, and famous more authority than they deserve.

When I need to work up my nerve to write a tough column, I try to think of myself as Emma Peel in a black leather catsuit.

If you're famous enough, the rules don't apply.

A friendship between reporter and source lasts only until it is profitable for one to betray the other.

Celebrity is the religion of our time.

I'm going to take a shower, " I said and prepared for the comment I knew was coming. "You know what they say, conserve water and shower with a friend.

If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.

When I look at my bookcase and see one book after the other upon its shelves, I think to myself, There is a God.

I am terrified of being bored.

Intellectuals are hindered on the way to being, by their narcissism.

People tend to forget that my presence runs counter to their best interests. And it always does. That is one last thing to remember. Writers are always selling somebody out.

I'm not religious. In Spain all 22 players make the sign of the cross before they enter the pitch. If it works all matches must therefore end in a draw.

It is seeing which establishes our place in the surrounding world; we explain that world with words, but words can never undo the fact that we are surrounded by it

I value my Catholic background very much. It taught me not to be afraid of rigorous thought, for one thing.

Trees are contagious; as soon as one neighborhood or street is planted, citizen pressure builds up for action from the next street.