My father read 'The New York Times,' my mother did secretarial work, we had a dog, we had a garden, I had a brother.

I just go to lunch. And I never know when something is going into the file and something is not.

I have always had a particular antagonism for the military.

I never know what's going to happen in a novel. I don't have a plan or an outline.

And off in the far distance, the gold on the wings of the angel atop the bell tower of San Marco flashed in the sun, bathing the entire city in its glistening benediction.

Venetians feel affection and loyalty to their city, rather than to the Italian state.

This is a fallen world. People lie, the truth gets distorted, and that's the way it is. What's for dinner ?

All through graduate school, instead of having a television I read murder mysteries: Hammett, Chandler, Ruth Rendell, P. D. James.

Oh, so seldom does fate cast our enemy into our hands, to do with as we will

And I don't want to live anywhere where I am famous. It makes me very, very uncomfortable, because it conveys an advantage over people, and I don't like that.

I never wanted to be rich or successful or famous. I just wanted to be happy and have fun.

One's character is set at an early age. The choices you make now will affect you for the rest of your life. I hate to see you swim out so far you can't swim back.

The question of whether one alleges the Superiority or Inferiority of any given race is irrelevant

We must stop calling bribes in our higher institutions “helping my child to gain admission.

I've learned to really just trust my gut and to go with what I really feel inside.

The worst lies of all are the ones we tell ourselves. They are the most damaging.

Tact is the rare ability to keep silent while two friends are arguing, and you know both of them are wrong.

No worries.You go save the world.I'm gonna finish getting a cavity.

To be a good parent, you need to take care of yourself so that you can have the physical and emotional energy to take care of your family.

The telkine growled and muttered as he tapped on his keyboard. Maybe he was messaging his friends on uglyface.com

The freedom of America is the freedom to live your own life and take your own chances.