It could fairly be said that America, during the Bush years, has entered an Age of Denial - arguably the first stage of a nation's decline.

Christopher Hitchens was a wit, a charmer, and a troublemaker, and to those who knew him well, he was a gift from - dare I say it - God.

You know, I used to warm the thermometer on the light bulb... I was really good at being sick. I could forge my mother's signature on a sick note so well I was hardly ever at school.

Stationery is addictive. I get mine made in Paris at Benetton, and writing on it gives me a strange thrill.

Many men think they're playboys but they invariably land wide of the mark. Surrounding yourself with champagne, fast friends and paid escorts is the very definition of the word 'loser'.

Water-boarding can result in damage to the lungs and the brain, as well as long-term psychological trauma.

I think the absence of socks on men wearing suits and brogues is a problem. They'll live to regret that.

As you get older and fatter, good clothes can hide a lot.

In less than a year, the Bush administration will strut out of office, leaving the country in roughly the same condition a toddler leaves a diaper.

Life is all about seating and lighting.

I might wear a dinner jacket once a year to our Oscar party - that's a big thing - but I don't go to parties. I'm social but I'm not a socialite person.

It takes a whole government to really screw up a war. A dollop of American hubris goes a long way too.

When you think about a person or object most of the times while you are awake, it is either obsession or it is love.

Closing your mind to religion is no different than the close-mindedness that religions can cause.

I just think that humans were created to look upward

Those who spend too fast never grow rich.

I always find a couple of hecklers... I'll kinda look at them, stare at 'em, and let them know I can't be stopped.

I have known uncertainty: a state unknown to the Greeks.

The public health authorities never mention the main reason many Americans have for smoking heavily, which is that smoking is a fairly sure, fairly honorable form of suicide.

It always amazes me when I see young people with raw talent and passion.

Rich kids who write songs about food stamps always piss me off. I'm not going to write any songs about that, either.