The tyranny of necessity grants its slaves three kinds of freedom: opinion free from intellect, entertainment free from art, and orgies free from love.

The streets of Vienna are paved with culture, the streets of other cities with asphalt.

Someone who can write aphorisms should not fritter away his time in essays.

Corruption is worse than prostitution. The latter might endanger the morals of an individual, the former invariably endangers the morals of the entire country.

I had a terrible vision: I saw an encyclopedia walk up to a polymath and open him up.

The sound principle of a topsy-turvy lifestyle in the framework of an upside-down world order has stood every test.

An aphorism is never exactly true; it is either a half-truth or one-and-a-half truths.

A writer is someone who can make a riddle out of an answer.

Newspapers have roughly the same relationship to life as fortune-tellers to metaphysics.

Christianity has enriched the erotic meal with the appetizer of curiosity and spoiled it with the dessert of remorse.

The devil is an optimist if he thinks he can make people worse than they are.

We gave you a perfectly good language and you f***ed up.

Infinite possibilities exist by keeping focus on what you really want to create your bliss.

A woman seldom writes her Mind but in her Postscript.

Your job is to preserve yourself, not to descend into their hole. It's a relief when you arrive at this place, the point of absurdity, because then you are free, you owe them nothing.

I would just think that I would remember modeling for the cover of an album with Tom Waits, who I've always loved.

When temptation comes your way, name that boastful, deceitful giant “Goliath!” and do with it as David did to the Philistine of Gath.

I think as a human being, if you can do something to impact someone's life, that's about the greatest accomplishment you can have.

I don't care who you love. If you love this country enough to risk your life for it, you shouldn't have to hide who you are.

The crooning turns to a sunrise singing.

A person in my position has to restrain himself.