Strict rules of evidence would destroy psychoanalysis and literary criticism.

Pain narrows consciousness; pleasure blurs it.

When Medusa looks in the mirror, she sees the Lady of Sorrows.

My passions have never jumped out of the fireplace and set fire to the carpet.

Retirement requires the invention of a new hedonism, not a return to the hedonism of youth

The sewing machine joins what the scissors have cut asunder, plus whatever else comes in its path.

Clothes make a statement. Costumes tell a story.

The laughter of the aphorism is sometimes triumphant, but seldom carefree.

'Be faithful to your roots' is the liberal version of 'Stay in your ghetto.'

Every day begins with an act of courage and hope: getting out of bed.

Totem poles and wooden masks no longer suggest tribal villages but fashionable drawing rooms in New York and Paris.

The misbegotten town of Whistlebrass is hidden away in a forgotten corner of northern Vermont like a guilty secret or a bloody knife buried under the floorboards.

Unhappy endings can be as cheap as happy endings.

It's very difficult to censor anything anymore.

A German wine label is one of the things life's too short for.

I was eight when he left office. Like, he had an awesome house, you know, and my cousins and I had awesome trips to Camp David and Washington. It was just all like a good time for me.

What you wear is how you present yourself to the world, especially today, when human contacts are so quick. Fashion is instant language.

A king is sometimes obliged to commit crimes; but they are the crimes of his position.

I can write three novels in the time it takes to write one novella. I'm probably not going to go with that form again.

I think that most great artists who are extremely known, as I am, would intimidate a lot of people. I don't want to do that to people, but I know I do.

Patriots is quite simple; there's seven continents in the world, if you had to sacrifice one continent and make it six would you do it?