The essence of life is the smile of round female bottoms, under the shadow of cosmic boredom.

You have the army of mediocrities followed by the multitude of fools. As the mediocrities and the fools always form the immense majority, it is impossible for them to elect an intelligent government.

Our memory is a more perfect world than the universe: it gives back life to those who no longer exist.

Words dazzle and deceive because they are mimed by the face. But black words on a white page are the soul laid bare.

The past attracts me, the present frightens me, because the future is death.

A sick thought can devour the body's flesh more than fever or consumption.

Of all the passions, the only one that seems respectable to me is the passion for food

It is the lives we encounter that make life worth living.

There is only one good thing in life, and that is love. And how you misunderstand it! how you spoil it! You treat it as something solemn like a sacrament, or something to be bought, like a dress.

Patriotism is a kind of religion; it is the egg from which wars are hatched.

Every government has as much of a duty to avoid war as a ship's captain has to avoid a shipwreck.

Another superb movie about a mature marriage grounded in a fundamental lack of communication is Dodsworth, based on the Sinclair Lewis novel.

There is much more to being a patriot and a citizen than reciting the pledge or raising a flag.

God is God. His name doesn't matter.

I am sure of very little, and I shouldn't be surprised if those things were wrong.

If you want to do something extraordinary, there's always risk involved. I was always willing to take that risk.

The God of the Bible is a moral monstrosity.

Writing a novel, I am making is an object that has a life and identity of its own, apart from me.

It's nice to be one of the most beautiful people.

I like to make people think differently than they did before I walked in the room.

Don't ally your personal interests with the development of the company.