Pittacus said, "Every one of you hath his particular plague, and my wife is mine; and he is very happy who hath this only".

I don't need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better.

The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.

An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.

When Demosthenes was asked what was the first part of Oratory, he answered, "Action," and which was the second, he replied, "action," and which was the third, he still answered "Action.

Know how to listen, and you will profit even from those who talk badly.

The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits.

Barba non facit philosophum

To make no mistakes is not in the power of man; but from their errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future.

Time is the wisest of all counselors.

No beast is more savage than man when possessed with power answerable to his rage.

You will only succeed in the field where your gift is

Nothing puzzles me more than the time and space and yet nothing troubles me less.

You gotta have a body.

Calgary wins for my coldest New Year's Eve gig. That's when I learned Fahrenheit and Celsius cross at 40 below. I could see callers' breath coming out of my phone.

The fictional treatment of biographical material - a treatment that for me is essential - is full of traps.

I want to get into the theater. I really wanted to be a theater director, but I turned out to be a movie director.

Grief can be a slow ache that never seems to stop rising, yet as we grieve, those we love mysteriously become more and more a part of who we are.

I am opposed to heart attacks and cancer and strokes the way I am opposed to sin.

In civilized society we all depend upon each other, and our happiness is very much owing to the good opinion of mankind.

For me the meaning of my work is much more fluid.