Once a newspaper touches a story, the facts are lost forever, even to the protagonists.

Writing books is the closest men ever come to childbearing.

A modern democracy is a tyranny whose borders are undefined; one discovers how far one can go only by traveling in a straight line until one is stopped.

The function of socialism is to raise suffering to a higher level.

Khomeini has offered us the opportunity to regain our frail religion ... faith in the power of words.

There was that law of life, so cruel and so just, that one must grow or else pay more for remaining the same.

Any war that requires the suspension of reason as a necessity for support is a bad war.

America is a hurricane, and the only people who do not hear the sound are those fortunate if incredibly stupid and smug White Protestants who live in the center, in the serene eye of the big wind.

I was thinking that surgeons had to be the happiest people on earth. To cut people up and get paid for it-that's happiness, I told myself.

Love asks us that we be a little braver than is comfortable, a little more generous, a little more flexible. It means living on the edge more than we care to.

Reaching consensus in a group is often confused with finding the right answer.

True love is quiescent, except in the nascent moments of true humility.

No, I had not read any other comedian's book. Not that I don't enjoy other comedians; I'm just not a reader.

This whole world is full of God!

There is nothing else that so kills the ambitions of a person as criticisms from superiors. I never criticize anyone...If I like anything, I am hearty in my approbation and lavish in my praise.

we dance even if there's no radio. we drink at funerals. we talk too much & laugh too loud & live too large, and, frankly, we're suspicious of others who don't.

The imaginary world has always been the most fun place for me to be.

I developed a reputation as a "hothead" because I got in the face of a lot of reporters and they thought I was just a hotheaded person. What they didn't understand was that I was motivated by love.

we're too great a nation to allow the evil-doers to affect our soul and our spirit.

The past was so past it hurt.

You should look at stocks as small pieces of business.