It is because I think so much of warm and sensitive hearts, that I would spare them from being wounded.

For the rest of his life, Oliver Twist remembers a single word of blessing spoken to him by another child because this word stood out so strikingly from the consistent discouragement around him.

There are books of which the backs and covers are by far the best parts.

Dignity, and even holiness too, sometimes, are more questions of coat and waistcoat than some people imagine.

Sudden shifts and changes are no bad preparation for political life.

Some conjurers say that number three is the magic number, and some say number seven. It's neither my friend, neither. It's number one. (Fagin)

You do not become outstanding by working on your weaknesses.You become outstanding by focusing entirely on your strengths.

What is the alternative to understanding the complexity of the world?

The trouble with lies was that once started, the fiction had to be continued, and it was hard always to be remembering details that you had made up upon the spur of the moment.

Every time you start a movie is to explore with a director and if you can with the actors and with the other collaborators and try to figure out what's the best way to tell the specific story.

No matter which way you turn ... there's nothing but illuison.

America must be the moral leader. It is not enough to have power. Power must be used to protect freedom and give all people hope for the opportunity to see the fruit of their own labor.

I don't know about you, but I practice a disorganized religion. I belong to an unholy disorder. We call ourselves "Our Lady of Perpetual Astonishment."

I think there was always that question mark of why am I not in St. Louis anymore? I think everybody had those questions and probably had those perceptions of me.

I didn't trust adults because I thought they were all kind of corrupted.

We know too much, and are convinced of too little. Our literature is a substitute for religion, and so is our religion.