To be human is to be in a story.

When you read to a child, when you put a book in a child's hands, you are bringing that child news of the infinitely varied nature of life. You are an awakener.

A good novel begins with a small question and ends with a bigger one.

The minute you become conscious that you are doing good, that's the minute you have to stop because from then on it's wrong.

Families hold each other in an iron grip of definition. One must break the grip, somehow.

The language of labels is like paper money, issued irresponsibly, with nothing of intrinsic value behind it, that is, with no effort of the intelligence to see, to really apprehend.

Literature is the province of imagination, and stories, in whatever guise, are meditations on life.

People steal into one's consciousness and occupy what seems, in retrospect, to have been their place all along.

I was the goldfish that leapt out of the bowl.

Life is all getting used to what you're not used to.

we are, in this country, more open to new ideas. But we are also, it seems to me, more inclined to hail the new as absolute truth - until the next new comes along.

When we tell our stories, the gods hear our sorrows.

The only thing that matters is everything.

People recognize certain things, like 'D' means 'this dialogue stinks.' We're dealing with shows that are written here, shot in New York and posted back here. Accurate communication is a necessity.

If I had a chance for another life, I would certainly choose a better complexion.

I grew up in an underprivileged home.

When in one area of the world the standard of living and the size of the middle class increases, it is going to have an effect elsewhere in the world as well.

I haven't really ever had to audition for anything.

Still when I lost her, I lost sight of any landmark that might have led me someplace happier, to some more populated or congenial life.

Saying that the origin of the Islamic State (IS) is within the Muslim Brotherhood organisation only strengthens IS.

I like doing nothing, actually. Doing nothing is better thing when I am not working.