People do not by default follow the strongest, but they follow the bravest

There's no tragedy in nature, only process -- and therefore no triumph, either.

The best way to deal with bureaucrats is with stealth and sudden violence.

But when a young lady is to be a heroine, the perverseness of forty surrounding families cannot prevent her. Something must and will happen to throw a hero in her way.

I don't think I have charisma. I don't think that someone will yell 'Wow, he's charismatic' when I'm eating in a restaurant.

Everyone will tell you how rigid I am, but a teacher has to be flexible. You can't cut the student to your cloth; you have to cut yourself to theirs.

It seems to me self-evident that if you have a life, things happen in it, and certain things do change; certain things end. People you know die.

It's not enough to be against something.

L.A.'s magic has let me see every level of the dream.

The severity of the master is more useful than the indulgence of the father.

Do not think me fussy when I specify tidiness. It is essential... In printing, remember that cleanliness and order wait upon success.