My father had a deep and lifelong contempt for politicians in general ("They tell lies," he used to say with wonder, "even when they don't have to").

Our form of democracy is bribery, on the highest scale.

There's a lot to be said for being nouveau riche, and the Reagans mean to say it all.

The unfed mind devours itself.

We are the United States of Amnesia, we learn nothing because we remember nothing.

Democracy is supposed to give you the feeling of choice, like Painkiller X and Painkiller Y. But they're both just aspirin.

Write something, even if it's just a suicide note.

Persuading the people to vote against their own best interests has been the awesome genius of the American political elite from the beginning.

The four most beautiful words in our common language: I told you so.

You know, I've been around the ruling class all my life, and I've been quite aware of their total contempt for the people of the country.

That loyal retainer of the Chase Manhattan Bank, the American president.

Relax and renew your mind.

Not only are you what you eat, but you also can be what's eating you. Don't become your problems or let them overtake you.

I feel like in Australia, all the films I've done, we're all equal moving parts in this equation of making the film - an actor is another crew member, essentially.

The intention of cheating no one lays us open to being cheated ourselves.

There are times in life when the most comfortable thing is to do nothing at all. Things happen to you and you just let them happen.

In my sculpture, it's not an image I am seeking, it's not an idea. My goal is to re-live a past emotion. My art is an exorcism, and beauty is something I never talk about.

Take my hand and grow young with me. Don't rush. Don't sleep. Be a beginner. Light the candles. Keep the fire. Dare to love someone. Tell yourself the truth. Stay inside the rapture.

My heart burns like fire but my eyes are as cold as dead ashes.

To read without writing is to sleep.

This is New York, and there's no law against being annoying.