We have no higher life that is really apart from other people. It is by imagining them that our personality is built up; to be without the power of imagining them is to be a low-grade idiot.

There is no way to penetrate the surface of life but by attacking it earnestly at a particular point.

A strange and somewhat impassive physiognomy is often, perhaps, an advantage to an orator, or leader of any sort, because it helps to fix the eye and fascinate the mind.

One should never criticize his own work except in a fresh and hopeful mood. The self-criticism of a tired mind is suicide.

Failure sometimes enlarges the spirit. You have to fall back upon humanity and God.

An artist cannot fail; it is a success to be one.

The imaginations which people have of one another are the solid facts of society.

As social beings we live with our eyes upon our reflection, but have no assurance of the tranquillity of the waters in which we see it.

To get away from one's working environment is, in a sense, to get away from one's self; and this is often the chief advantage of travel and change.

Form the habit of making decisions when your spirit is fresh...to let dark moods lead is like choosing cowards to command armies.

Every general increase of freedom is accompanied by some degeneracy, attributable to the same causes as the freedom.

I don’t trust the answers or the people who give me the answers. I believe in dirt and bone and flowers and fresh pasta and salsa cruda and red wine. I don’t believe in white wine

I have spent my life judging the distance between American reality and the American dream.

I always try to work with people who are better than me, so I can learn more.

All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad.

If you knew it all it would not be creation but dictation.

If there is no meditation, then you are like a blind man in a world of great beauty, light and colour.

...and I wrote a book and that means I can do anything

Never, never let a person know you're frightened. And a group of them ... absolutely never. Fear brings out the worst in everybody.

My whole body is a wreck. I've injured myself so many times with jujitsu, skateboarding, football. I guess I like to live hard.

I was a science fiction junkie for a long time.