While making love, we often talk about money. I like it. I like that dirty talk

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.

Failure comes from fear. Success comes from boldness and persistence.

And if you don’t underestimate me, I won’t underestimate you.

When I get old and slow down I want to look behind me and see all the fire and the wreckage and no stone left unturned.

If you don't change, then what's the point of anything happening to you? It'll still be happening to an unchanged person.

I think the path for a young writer might be one that says, "I have to accept myself, this is what I am. I can't eradicate my defects. I can work on them."

The martini: the only American invention as perfect as the sonnet.

I come to my solitary woodland walk as the homesick go home.

The idea of a superior or inferior race is a myth that has been completely refuted by anthropological evidence.

Approved valor is made precious by natural courtesy.

When the path ignites a soul, there's no remaining in place. The foot touches ground, but not for long.