I think in all of the arts there are just certain people that have a gift. I think it's a certain spirituality, it's a God-given gift that just certain individuals have.

I think if you have a passion for what you do then there are no limitations on how long or how much you can accomplish.

I have an awful lot to learn. My dream is to get better and better as I get older.

I've taken stuff from people, too. You know though, if you steal from one person, you're just a thief. But if you steal from everyone, that's research.

If you follow your passion, you'll never work a day in your life.

Someday, when I'm awfully low, and the world is cold, I will feel a glow just thinking of you, and the way you look tonight.

To work is to feel alive.

"Benedetto" means the "blessed one" and I feel that I have truly been blessed.

When the uncreative tell the creative what to do, it stops being art.

My goal as a creative person is to express truth and beauty in whatever I do

I can't ask for more out of life, and the more I learn, the less I know.

Study the assumptions behind your actions. Then study the assumptions behind your assumptions.

To the pilot of a deep sea submersible, upon finding out what would happen if the craft sprung a leak while submerged. I'll trust you to make sure that doesn't happen.

Night is real. Night is not an absence of light, but in fact, it is daytime that is a brief respite from the looming darkness.

I can't say I ever loved my mother; I admired her.

Being in New York, a lot of people I knew were top-notch copy editors or photo retouchers, so I had a good community around me that knew how to do the specialized stuff.

I don't think of myself as a writer.

If you want a blank spot on the map, you gotta leave the map behind.

If you want to be your own master ... always be surprised by evil; never anticipate it.

It's not a good idea to put your wife into a novel; not your latest wife anyway.

Heroic deeds, to use whatever dower Heaven has bestowed, to test our utmost power.