So strong is the power of superstition that even though we know that we have been reverencing a sham, yet still we hesitate to admit the validity of our new-found convictions.

When Tarzan killed he more often smiled than scowled, and smiles are the foundation of beauty.

If I had followed my better judgment always, my life would have been a very dull one.

I have been successful probably because I have always realized that I knew nothing about writing and have merely tried to tell an interesting story entertainingly.

If you write one story, it may be bad; if you write a hundred, you have the odds in your favor.

The more one listens to ordinary conversations the more apparent it becomes that the reasoning faculties of the brain take little part in the direction of the vocal organs.

I do not think that I am ever overconfident. I am merely wholly confident, and I maintain that there is all the difference in the world there.

It is a characteristic of the weak and criminal to attribute to others the misfortunes that are the result of their own wickedness.

Golf is a mental disorder.

Am I alive and a reality, or am I but a dream?

You are here for but an instant, and you mustn't take yourself too seriously

This is a sickness rooted and inherent in the nature of a tyranny: that he that holds it does not trust his friends.

How shall I be able to rule over others, that have not full power and command of myself?

Don't put a lump of rock under my elbow again!

Certainly, until there is justice for the Palestinians, there will never be any kind of stability in the Middle East.

Through the Australians, and the Japanese, too, I suppose, the Americans get their message across, but not in a heavy-handed way.

My responsibility as a poet, as an artist, is to not look away.

I can tell you this: I'm an extremely passionate individual. I try to be careful how I display it because you never know how people are going to take it.

I wouldn't mind my book being called an African novel if it didn't invite lazy readings.

I love meeting interesting people and doing things with them.