No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots.

Hope is essential to any political struggle for radical change when the overall social climate promotes disillusionment and despair.

For anyone worn down, The Impossible Will Take a Little While is a bracing double cappuccino.

Considering the absence of legal coercion, the surprising thing is that men have for so long, and, on the whole, so reliably, adhered to what we might call the breadwinner ethic.

Exercise is the yuppie version of bulimia.

The 'working poor,' as they are approvingly termed, are in fact the major philanthropists of our society.

There is a vast difference between positive thinking and existential courage.

No one should be incarcerated for debt or squeezed for money they have no chance of getting their hands on.

Poverty is not a character failing or a lack of motivation. Poverty is a shortage of money.

Personally, I can't see why it would be any less romantic to find a husband in a nice four-color catalogue than in the average downtown bar at happy hour.

The one regret I have about my own abortions is that they cost money that might otherwise have been spent on something more pleasurable, like taking the kids to movies and theme parks.

Without understanding, there is no life. Either you act, out of understanding or act to develop understanding out of it.

I promise, Matthias. I'll take you home.""Nina, " he said, pressing her hand to his heart. "I am already home.

you live each day one at a timeyou live every day all at onceyou live with the possibility of good-byeyou move on.

A half roll of Life Savers fused to the pockets, And in yet another, a lone unwrapped mintHad bundled itself in a stole of gray lint.

We are responsible for our own destiny. What matters is how we improve ourselves from this moment forward.

Feminism is teaching. I've gotten a lot of pleasure pushing younger writers that I've met and worked with.

We are all concerned about the future of American education. But as I tell my students, you do not enter the future - you create the future. The future is created through hard work.

Football was never my life. The guys [and] the relationships were my life. I have an ability to relate to damn near everybody.

Wish to be what you are, and wish for no other position.

I don't know what it takes to make marriage work, but I'm going to keep trying until I get it right. I haven't given up on love or marriage.