Modesty and unselfishness - these are the virtues which men praise - and pass by.

We owe to the Middle Ages the two worst inventions of humanity - romantic love and gunpowder.

Without a family, man, alone in the world, trembles with the cold.

The first recipe for happiness is: avoid too lengthy meditation on the past.

We can talk frankly about our defects only to those who recognise our qualities.

An artist must be a reactionary. He has to stand out against the tenor of the age and not go flopping along.

A happy marriage is a long conversation which always seems too short.

A marriage without conflicts is almost as inconceivable as a nation without crises.

We appreciate frankness from those who like us. Frankness from others is called insolence.

Conversation would be vastly improved by the constant use of four simple words: I do not know.

A successful marriage is an edifice that must be rebuilt every day.

Rejoice while you can breathe.

They stood either side of him like haunting little genetic bookends. The one thing he’ll leave behind, two kids who called another man for help with their homework.

Beware of the danger signals that flag problems: silence secretiveness or sudden outburst.

Young men, listen to an old man to whom old men listened when he was young.

I'm greedy and ambitious like everybody else.

Is it time for your medication or mine?

I wouldn't live in Chicago cause it's too conservative, aside for the fact that Oprah Winfrey lives there.

Giving is most blessed and most acceptable when the donor remains completely anonymous.

It is a great good fortune, as Stendhal said, for one "to have his passion as a profession.

There is nothing that dies so hard and rallies so often as intolerance.