None of us can avoid being contaminated by the world's evils; it's all a matter of what attitude you take towards them.

Every great work of art ... is a celebration, an act of insubordination against the betrayals, horrors and infidelities of life.

I see people who talk about America, and then undermine it by not paying attention to its soul, to its poetry. I see polarization, reductionism and superficiality.

Once we know of atrocities we cannot remain silent, and knowledge inevitably leads to an urge to protect the innocent.

That, of course, is what great works of imagination do for us: They make us a little restless, destabilize us, question our preconceived notions and formulas.

I no longer believe that we can keep silent. We never really do, mind you. In one way or another we articulate what has happened to us through the kind of people we become.

You need imagination in order to imagine a future that doesn't exist.

It is amazing how, when all possibilities seem to be taken away from you, the minutest opening can become a great freedom.

The negative side of the American Dream comes when people pursue success at any cost, which in turn destroys the vision and the dream.

I eat my heart out alone.

I am suddenly left alone again on the sunny path, with a memory of the rain.

Gently guide the tender vine else it become wild, tangled and impossible.

He that rebels against reason is a real rebel, but he that in defence of reason rebels against tyranny has a better title to Defender of the Faith, than George the Third.

I grew up, I was going I want to be Jerry Lee Lewis. Only I can't play piano and sing that good.

As a child I was a great liar. Fortunately my mother liked my lies. I promised her marvelous things.

The gods loves to punish whatever is greater than the rest.

We're now in one of those periods when the reality of intense pressure on the middle class diverges from long-held assumptions of how the American bargain should work

There are surely worse things than being wrong, and being dull and pedantic are surely among them.

Being enthusiastic settles nothing.

The need to impress others causes half the world's woes.

Manhattan crowds, with their turbulent musical chorus! Manhattan faces and eyes forever for me.