I have so little control over the act of writing that it's all I can do to remain conscious.

Not being funny doesn't make you a bad person. Not having a sense of humor does.

Well into adulthood, writing has never gotten easier. It still only ever begins badly, and there are no guarantees that this is not the day when the jig is finally up.

Altruism is innate, but it's not instinctual. Everybody's wired for it, but a switch has to be flipped.

Being a stranger was like being dead, and brought to mind how, in a book he had read that most folks misunderstood one common state: The flip side of love is indifference, not hate.

We’re creatures of contact regardless of whether/ we kiss or we wound. Still, we must come together.

There is nothing so cleansing or reassuring as a vicarious sadness.

Youth is not wasted on the young, it is perpetrated on the young.

Central to living a life that is good, is a life that's forgiving.

I am neither spontaneous nor ready for anything.

I have managed to establish an identity that is based on my internal self, and for that I feel tremendously lucky.

Some days you feel like you're the worst of sinners

Injuries too well remembered cannot heal.

The moral law of God is the only law of individuals and of nations, and nothing can be rightful government but such as is established and administered with a view to its support.

I want people to take me seriously as an artist and to hear that I have something to truly say and to offer.

The world is a fine place and worth the fighting for and I hate very much to leave it.

I really worry about the state of the planet and I wish everyone would make a concerned effort not to trash it.

I do not have any fears, no fear of dying, of failure, of anything; that means I am very dangerous for my opponents.

I eat very clean foods, healthy foods and drink a lot of water.

I get all of my comedy from CNN.

Real sorrow is almost as difficult to discover as real poverty. An instinctive delicacy hides the rays of the one and the wounds of the other.