In order to comprehend the beauty of a Japanese garden, it is necessary to understand - or at least to learn to understand - the beauty of stone.

The Western poet and writer of romance has exactly the same kind of difficulty in comprehending Eastern subjects as you have in comprehending Western subjects.

All good work is done the way ants do things: Little by little.

Contemporary literature in the West has shown some signs of ethical change.

No man can possibly know what life means, what the world means, until he has a child and loves it. And then the whole universe changes and nothing will ever again seem exactly as it seemed before.

The proverbial philosophy of a people helps us to understand more about them than any other kind of literature.

To ancient Chinese fancy, the Milky Way was a luminous river, - the River of Heaven, - the Silver Stream.

A great many things which in times of lesser knowledge we imagined to be superstitious or useless, prove today on examination to have been of immense value to mankind.

Broad tolerance in the matter of beliefs is necessarily a part of the new ethics.

One thing is always wrong-always: to cause suffering in others for the purpose of gratifying one's own pleasures; that is everlastingly wrong.

The time of illusion, then, is the beautiful moment of passion; it represents the artistic zone in which the poet or romance writer ought to be free to do the very best that he can.

I grew up in a secular suburban Jewish household where we only observed the religion on very specific times like a funeral or a Bar Mitzvah.

I love to go to Washington - if only to be near my money.

For Karen Holmes (in From Here to Eternity), I studied voice for three months to get rid of my English accent. I changed my hair to blonde. I knew I could be sexy if I had to.

There is always room and occasion enough for a true book on any subject; as there is room for more light the brightest day and more rays will not interfere with the first.

Do not let people put you down. Believe in yourself and stand for yourself and trust yourself.

In a mystery, you must play fair by giving all the clues, but disguise them by immediately distracting the reader with something else.

Take a one way trip down to Larry Land!

I love being able to play as many different characters, in as many different worlds as I possibly can. That's what I really enjoy.

No amount of rationalizing can change God's laws. No amount of fashion designing can turn immodesty into virtue, and no amount of popularity can change sin into righteousness.

Be nice to your hairstylist. It's an instant gratification! It doesn't matter how badly their day has gone, in that moment they feel amazing. And the hairdresser has made them feel that way.