When appearance and reality coincide, philosophy and literary criticism find themselves with nothing to say.

Pain narrows consciousness; pleasure blurs it.

When Medusa looks in the mirror, she sees the Lady of Sorrows.

My passions have never jumped out of the fireplace and set fire to the carpet.

Retirement requires the invention of a new hedonism, not a return to the hedonism of youth

The sewing machine joins what the scissors have cut asunder, plus whatever else comes in its path.

Clothes make a statement. Costumes tell a story.

The laughter of the aphorism is sometimes triumphant, but seldom carefree.

'Be faithful to your roots' is the liberal version of 'Stay in your ghetto.'

Every day begins with an act of courage and hope: getting out of bed.

Totem poles and wooden masks no longer suggest tribal villages but fashionable drawing rooms in New York and Paris.

always schedule your comeback.

What passes thelips goes straight to the hips.

Tolerance is the only real test of civilization.

In the interstices of language lie powerful secrets of the culture.

A single ego is an absurdly narrow vantage point from which to view the world.

Art not only imitates nature, but also completes its deficiencies.

The teacher will have a certain imprint, and each teacher imprints differently. Ultimately the imprint of the teacher is a limitation that you will have to overcome in your final stages of knowledge.

After nine or 10 years of being interviewed, you start wanting to team up with the reporter and get the job done.

Droplets, droplets: we are all identical drips and drops of people, hovering, waiting to be tipped, waiting for someone to show us the way, to pour us down a path.

I went out with Robbie Williams and Liam Gallagher. I was accused of going out with many different people but that wasn't my fault.