[Washington is a] very gossipy little village of people all going to the same bars . . . all watching each other having affairs with each other

Women have got to stop being polite. If I ever had children, which I don't, the first thing I'd teach a girl of mine is the words 'f - off.'

Being powerful is so much more interesting than being beautiful.

You write your life story by the choices you make.

It has nothing to do with clothing or makeup. Just put your shoulders back and chin up, and face the world with pride.

Actors are rogues and vagabonds. Or they ought to be.

When you're 16, 30 seems ancient. When you're 30, 45 seems ancient. When you're 45, 60 seems ancient. When you're 60, nothing seems ancient.

I don't think it's good to try and change anyone. The trick and the mystery - of relationships and life in general - is to learn to live with the bits you don't like.

Parkinson's is a slow but inevitable process. It's hard living with it on a daily basis. The difficulty facing people with it is that they never quite know 'Can I or can't I do this today?'

I don't like the word 'strong,' because a strong character is never an interesting character. A character is made interesting by their vulnerabilities and their weaknesses.

Where you grew up becomes a big part of who you are for the rest of your life. You can't run away from that. Well, sometimes the running away from it is what makes you who you are.

If you skillfully follow the multidisciplinary path, you will never wish to come back. It would be like cutting off your hands.

Beware of barking at underdogs; don't fight with people who have nothing to lose.

I'm in the mood to get faded, so please bring your finest.

It has been an interesting road, but I wouldn't trade any of it for the world, because I feel like all of those instances in my life I felt molded me and strengthened me and made me who I am.

They will not love me, you say? When have they ever loved me? How can I lose something I have never owned? - Stannis

The hope for our nation and our world lies within our ability to innovate and move forward technologically.

I still buy actual books. The smell, having it in your hands - there's really no substitute.

Huge herds of vigorous, curious, open-eyed Americans freely roaming the world are, it seems to me, quite possibly a vital national resource today as at no other time in our history.

Whatever the explanation, it's perfectly obvious that our educational system has nothing to do with education: it's a babysitting service designed to replicate the worst qualities of the parents.

The inferior man attempts a hundred intrigues in order to save himself, but finishes only in creating a greater calamity from which he cannot run.