There was a writer in the '20s called Christopher Morley, who I remember a little bit of, who had some influence on me, but I couldn't tell you what it was.

Human interactions, stimulated as they are by disequilibrium, never achieve balance. In even the most favorable transaction, one party whether he realizes it or not must always come out the worse.

Of all questions, why? is the least pertinent. It begs the question; it assumes the larger part of its own response; to wit, that a sensible response exists.

Freedom, privileges, options, must constantly be exercised, even at the risk of inconvenience.

Good music always defeats bad luck

But I've sure worked at jobs where I have been under inspection.

While we are alive we should sit among colored lights and taste good wines, and discuss our adventures in far places; when we are dead, the opportunity is past.

What is an evil man? The man is evil who coerces obedience to his private ends, destroys beauty, produces pain, extinguishes life.

A barbarian is not aware that he is a barbarian.

I understand the gist of your speculation,' said Rhialto. 'It is most likely nuncupatory.

I was a carpenter for a time and everybody watches what you do.

Entering a library, I am always stuck by the way in which a certain vision of the world is imposed upon the reader through its categories and its order.

Stay up and really burn the midnight oil. There are no compromises.

No human creature can give orders to love.

To some degree Satanism is purely a kind of disease of Christianity. You've got to really be Christian to believe in Satan.

It is a well-known fact that we always recognize our homeland at the moment we are about to lose it.

I make friends faster and easier than journalists.

We should make the most of life, enjoy it because that's the way it is!

I have been careless, and so have been thwarted by luck and chance, those wreckers of all but the best laid plans.

I am against great themes and great subjects... You can't film an idea. The camera is an instrument for recording physical impact.

You have to find actors who have the ability to display a wide range of emotion effectively. That's so much harder than it seems.