On their way to freedom, some people find riches, some people find death.

There's something to be said about a slightly plump person—you have just enough of too much.

The inevitable is no less a shock just because it is inevitable.

Express everything you like. No word can hurt you. None. No idea can hurt you. Not being able to express an idea or word will hurt you more. Like a bullet.

I was given a dictionary when I was seven, and I read it because I had nothing else to read. I read it the way you read a book.

People don't make changes because things are wonderful.

I would be lost without the feeling of antagonism that people have towards me. I write out of defiance.

People only say I’m angry because I’m black and I’m a woman.

A great piece of literature encompasses all that is and all that will be.

...yet a memory cannot be trusted, for so much of the experience of the past is determined by the experience of the present.

I'm so used to being misunderstood.

You have to stop and freeze the moment, " he told me I had told her. "You have to make yourself remember by repeating it in your head over and over. You have to write to preserve your sanity.

Money is a by-product of time. Money is the time that is well converted. Therefore, time is the raw material from which money is made.

What makes human life meaningful? I still felt literature provided the best account of the life of the mind, while neuroscience laid down the most elegant rules of the brain.

If we really want to be full and generous in spirit, we have no choice but to trust at some level.

Without Divine assistance I can not succeed; with it I can not fail.

Festivals are always fun. I went to a lot when I was younger and had money to go to them. I like playing at festivals. They're always kind of like a big, crazy circus.

Erosion of cities or attrition of automobiles?

I do six or seven films a year in order to sustain my lifestyle.

Squash - that's not exercise, it's flagellation.

If you're behind the times, they won't notice you. If you're right in tune with them, you're no better than they are, so they won't care much for you. Be just a little ahead of them.