There are two kinds of writers, those who are and those who aren't. With the first, content and form belong together like soul and body; with the second, they match each other like body and clothes.

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.

Arguments about language are usually arguments about politics, disguised and channeled through one of our most distinctive markers of identity.

Writing a novel is like trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle whose pieces aren't even fixed in shape. Yet, somehow, they all come together in the end to form the complete picture.

Whether you practice a traditional religion or a universal version of spirituality, it is necessary to keep an open mind for learning and growing.

Honest communication is built on truth and integrity and upon respect of the one for the other.

I think what drove me insane for a long time is feeling like I hadn't earned most of what I achieved because it came so fast.

The creative process is a cocktail of instinct, skill, culture and a highly creative feverishness.

Let him who looks for a monument to Washington look around the United States. Your freedom, your independence, your national power, your prosperity, and your prodigious growth are a monument to him.

Everything is being compressed into tiny tablets. You take a little pill of news every day-23 minutes-and that's supposed to be enough.

Nor law, nor duty bade me fight, Nor public men, nor cheering crowds, A lonely impulse of delight Drove to this tumult in the clouds.

Protecting the environment is really important to everyone's welfare - that of our children, as well as that of the future generations.