When policemen go to prison in England, they have as bad a time as a pedophile.

Only in art will the lion lie down with the lamb, and the rose grow without thorn.

Religious belief is without reason and without dignity, and its record is near-universally dreadful.

Probably human cruelty is fixed and eternal. Only styles change.

My life looked good on paper - where, in fact, almost all of it was being lived.

When the past is forgotten, the present is unforgettable

Closure is a greasy little word which, moreover, describes a nonexistent condition. The truth, Venus, is that nobody gets over anything.

Perhaps there are other bits of my life that would take on content, take on shadow, if only I read more and thought less about money.

When you’ve lost all your play, guess what love becomes. Work. Work that gets harder every hour.

Love is blind; but it makes you see the blind man; teetering on the roadside . . .

Every 10 years you're a different person, and the really great books evolve with you as you get older. They're full of new rewards.

When life gives you the gift of a great story, to not partake in the telling of that story would be a crime against humanity.

Everything around you that you call life was made up by people, and you can change it.

A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.

I look at my career and how I'm doing it now. I feel like there is something authentic in that process that I still try not to over manipulate. When I feel something, I try to listen to that.

I'm the most comfortable when I'm at home resting doing nothing.I feel the most myself when I'm with music.

I could show you a picture right now where I look like something from The Hills Have Eyes. Talk about an awkward stage. Puberty was not good at all.

It doesn't help for you to name a character's first name be Mindy and then be like, "I'm nothing like the character."

Choice is the only tool we have that enables us to go from who we are today to who we want to be tomorrow.

I think the only person a writer has an obligation to is himself. If what I write doesn't fulfill something in me, if I don't honestly feel it's the best I can do, then I'm miserable.

I'm putting all my money in the Chinese toy market.