My ambition in life: to become successful enough to resume my career as a neurasthenic.

Pain narrows consciousness; pleasure blurs it.

When Medusa looks in the mirror, she sees the Lady of Sorrows.

My passions have never jumped out of the fireplace and set fire to the carpet.

Retirement requires the invention of a new hedonism, not a return to the hedonism of youth

The sewing machine joins what the scissors have cut asunder, plus whatever else comes in its path.

Clothes make a statement. Costumes tell a story.

The laughter of the aphorism is sometimes triumphant, but seldom carefree.

'Be faithful to your roots' is the liberal version of 'Stay in your ghetto.'

Every day begins with an act of courage and hope: getting out of bed.

Totem poles and wooden masks no longer suggest tribal villages but fashionable drawing rooms in New York and Paris.

Silence made space for other people's words, which was important for those who needed to be listened to.

The whole world ought to know the story of the Bible.

Not your distress. Never that. I loved— I loved being there. Next to you. The pile of limbs that was Us. Together in the same bed. Even if it meant waking up with a few new bruises.

I can't say I'm thankful about being German because I sometimes experience it as a huge burden. But it is an integral part of me and I wouldn't want to escape it. I have accepted it.

When you first get out of doing a show for a long time where you played a teenager, casting directors and producers all still look at you as being the character that you played for so long.

Not to create confusion in what is clear, but to throw light on what is obscure.

The more you learn, I think the more you realise who you are and what you want and what you believe and what you want to be and where you want to end up.

It was considered very bad form to wish authors on their birthdays 'many happy returns.

The biggest mistake we see companies make when they first hit Twitter is to think about it as a channel to push out information.

Vow to seek a Calm Inner Response to the Circumstances of your Life