Imagination without knowledge leads no farther than the back yard of primitive art, the child's scrawl on the fence, and the crank's message in the market place. Art is never simple.

Knowing you have something good to read before bed is among the most pleasurable of sensations.

And the rest is rust and stardust.

Do not be angry with the rain; it simply does not know how to fall upwards.

Mind you, sometimes the angels smoke, hiding it with their sleeves, and when the archangel comes, they throw the cigarettes away: that’s when you get shooting stars.

Curiosity is insubordination in its purest form.

Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta.

The writer's job is to get the main character up a tree, and then once they are up there, throw rocks at them.

There are aphorisms that, like airplanes, stay up only while they are in motion.

I think it is all a matter of love: the more you love a memory, the stronger and stranger it is.

Loneliness as a situation can be corrected, but as a state of mind it is an incurable illness.

Tragic as it is when a child fails to develop physically or mentally, even more tragic is a Christian who fails to develop spiritually.

A book can transform your life and add new dimensions to the way you think.

It's been my Buckingham Palace, my White House, my Taj Mahal, so coming here today as a real member is - well, it's a big deal.

The Chinese have always enjoyed gambling, and Macau is the only place in Greater China where gambling is legal. So I believe the government understands that there has to be a place for it.

You ask any actor - they'll tell you they'd rather shoot on location because you don't have to invent the energy, the energy is there.

I don't look for [comedic moments] actually, I just live my life.

I've learned that it's harder to try to put on this goody two-shoes persona when that's not me.

The Bible is a human product: it tells us how our religious ancestors saw things, not how God sees things

I believe in Scotland's place within the United Kingdom today as much as ever.

Platonic friendship-the interval between the introduction and the first kiss.