There is a time to fish and a time to mend nets.

At the ballet, you really feel like you're in the presence of something outside the rest of your life. Higher than the rest of your life.

I never wanted to do biography just to tell the life of a famous man. I always wanted to use the life of a man to examine political power, because democracy shapes our lives

The Senate is an unknowing world

Power doesn't always corrupt. Power can cleanse. What I believe is always true about power is that power always reveals.

Robert Moses wasn't elected to anything. We're taught that in a democracy power comes from being elected. He had more power than anyone, and he held it for 48 years

The moment the curtain rose on that first ballet, I knew something wonderful and new had come into my life. I can still see the first scene. The ballet was Divertimento No. 15

The New York City Ballet is obviously speaking to a whole new generation and bringing it the same wonder and beauty that it brought previous generations

Ballet is sort of a mystery to me. And I don't want to unravel that mystery.

I deliberately made an effort not to become an expert on the ballet.

I don't think of my books as being biographies. I never had any interest in doing a book just to write the life of a great man. I had zero interest in that. My interest is in power. How power works.

Among some of the youngsters, I think reality TV has installed that culture into them and inspired a few of them into wanting to be 'TV celebrities.

To be sure, it is not the fruits of scientific research that elevate a man and enrich his nature, but the urge to understand, the intellectual work, creative or receptive.

We can also reassure our Palestinian partners that we understand the importance of territorial contiguity in the West Bank for a viable Palestinian state ...

I believe that nothing is more important to our ability to effectively address our present than understanding the lessons learned from those who have come before us.

One does not arise from such a book as Sister Carrie with a smirk of satisfaction; one leaves it infinitely touched.

There's another advantage to being poor - a doctor will cure you faster.

Originality, of course, is what occurs when something new arises out of what's already been done.

His smile was like lightning in the darkness, blinding and beautiful and mysterious, and I wanted him so badly it was physically painful.

Barcelona is a special track. I have always loved the layout of the circuit, but also the atmosphere and the fans are special. It has always been good fun.