If beggars do not hate the rest of us, they are even more abject than I had imagined.

Pain narrows consciousness; pleasure blurs it.

When Medusa looks in the mirror, she sees the Lady of Sorrows.

My passions have never jumped out of the fireplace and set fire to the carpet.

Retirement requires the invention of a new hedonism, not a return to the hedonism of youth

The sewing machine joins what the scissors have cut asunder, plus whatever else comes in its path.

Clothes make a statement. Costumes tell a story.

The laughter of the aphorism is sometimes triumphant, but seldom carefree.

'Be faithful to your roots' is the liberal version of 'Stay in your ghetto.'

Every day begins with an act of courage and hope: getting out of bed.

Totem poles and wooden masks no longer suggest tribal villages but fashionable drawing rooms in New York and Paris.

Don’t just wish and dream—take action to make it happen.

I think about my films for a long time, maybe years, but I write them in days.

I had to grow up and learn to listen for the unspoken as well as the spoken-and to know a truth.

I grew up reading comics. I was primarily an 'X-Men' fan, but I definitely dressed up as Spider-Man for Halloween when I was, like, 12 years old. Maybe younger than that.

My aim is to achieve sustainable change, not just make a cute little makeover.

Extreme liberalism is not a political philosophy. It is a mental disorder.

When we leave this world, and are laid in the earth, the prince walks as narrow a path as the day-laborer.

If you become president, you're guaranteed to develop some nervous habit.

All wonder is the effect of novelty on ignorance.

I don't want you to apologize for being rich; I want you to acknowledge that in America, we all should have to pay our fair share.