When a writer talks about his work, he's talking about a love affair.

The writer writes in order to teach himself, to understand himself, to satisfy himself; the publishing of his ideas, though it brings gratification, is a curious anticlimax.

One writes to make a home for oneself, on paper, in time, in others' minds.

We never know how much has been missing from our lives until a true writer comes along.

To have a sense of history one must consider oneself a piece of history.

What happens whenever we convert a writer into a symbol is that we lose the writer himself in all his indefeasible singularity, his particular inimitable genius.

A classic is a book that survives the circumstances that made it possible yet alone keeps those circumstances alive.

History has become more important than ever because of the to unprecedented ability of the historical sciences to take in man's life on earth as a whole.

Art changes all the time, but it never "improves." It may go down, or up, but it never improves as technology and medicine improve.

If we practiced medicine like we practice education, wed look for the liver on the right side and left side in alternate years.

A year after Hemingway died on the front page, Faulkner went off after a binge, as if dying was nobody's business but his own.

Belief in the lie is the life of the lie.

Since Bush has been in office, African-American women have fallen behind in terms of income and wages.

You can't really do a lot of research for being a mass manipulating, murdering super-villain.

Don't plan it all. Let life surprise you a little.

Cloning represents a very clear, powerful, and immediate example in which we are in danger of turning procreation into manufacture.

I really, really love Hilary Clinton. I think she's very cool. She's out there and she's involved.

What narrow innocence it is for one to be good only according to the law.

It was really fun [on set of the Pineapple Express]. I mean, how could I not have fun? It was exactly what you think it would be.

If I can't get the captains to respond appropriately and show the leadership I expect, how is anyone else going to respond?

The ruling class is the rich. . . . And those people are so able to manipulate our democracy that they really control the democracy.