Only half of writing is saying what you mean. The other half is preventing people from reading what they expected you to mean.

Nothing important comes with instructions.

What is more yours than what always holds you back?

The best way to know your faults is to notice which ones you accuse others of.

Writing is like washing windows in the sun. With every attempt to perfect clarity, you make a new smear.

When I am trying to write I turn on music so I can hear what is keeping me from hearing.

Sophistication is upscale conformity.

The happy and the suffering probably understand life equally well, but the sufferers may see a little more clearly how little it is that they understand.

It is the empty seats that listen most raptly.

All work is the avoidance of harder work.

Tyranny and fantasy both like to write everyone else's lines.

At the end of the day, what matters most is not what tore you apart but the love than binds and heals your heart.

The happiest adults are those who never buried old toys or abandoned imaginary friends.

Nobody's safe. Health insurance? That didn't protect 1 million Americans who were financially ruined by illness or medical bills last year.

I enjoy the independence of single-handling a boat. I like controlling the elements, making the wind and the waves and the water work for me.

There are many ways to the recognition of truth, and Burgundy is one of them.

It’s always summer somewhere.

American radio from the '30s through the '60s was just fabulous. There was such a diversity.

O Nature, gracious mother of us all, Within thy bosom myriad secrets lie Which thou surrenderest to the patient eye That seeks and waits.

Peace is the simplicity of heart, serenity of mind, tranquility of soul, the bond of love.

It is a youthful failing to be unable to control one's impulses.