The more learned a writer, the more digression beckons him.

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.

She looked herself in the eyes and saw that there was nothing left. No sense. It must have gone through that hole in her chest along with everything else.

It's not weird to look at yourself in the mirror at the gym - that's why they're there! You have to make sure that you're doing things right.

We do not worry about being respected in towns through which we pass. But if we are going to remain in one for a certain time, we do worry. How long does this time have to be?

I voted for President Bush. I voted for President Clinton and although I do want my vote back, I voted for President Obama.

Conceit and confidence are both of them cheats; the first always imposes on itself, the second frequently deceives others too.

How can such deep-imprinted images sleep in us at times, till a word, a sound, awake them?

Goodness begins simply with the fact of life itself.

The sun was a toddler insistently refusing to go to bed: It was past eight thirty and still light.

The airy sky has taken its place leaning against the wall. It is like a prayer to what is empty And what is empty turns its face to us and whispers: 'I am not empty, I am open'.

I was never shielded from the realities of what it meant to be an artist and that made me afraid to be an artist because I wanted to know that my life was secure.