Why didn't children ever see that they could damage and harm their parents as much as parents could damage and harm children?

Writers talk about the agony of writing; I talk about the agony of not writing.

I rewrite everything, almost idiotically. I rewrite and work and work, and rewrite and rewrite some more.

I think of myself as a plain human being who happens to be an American.

I grew up in an agnostic broad-minded family.

I tell you, I'm half tempted to break into CIA custody just so I can break Joe Solomon out of CIA custody just so I can break Joe Solomon

…praise does not make anything better or worse.

I worry about kids today not having time to build a tree house or ride a bike or go fishing. I worry that life is getting faster and faster.

In America, we want a peaceful planet. We want people to be able to enjoy their lives and know they're going to have a bright and prosperous future, not be at war. That's our purpose.

There is a time for scientists and movie stars and those who have flown the atlantic to restrain their opinions lest they be taken more seriously than they should be.

People who are in love suspect nothing or everything.

In fact, my entire childhood consisted of looking at photographs in which the viewer sees the ball behind the line, looking through the goal net, and the poor goalkeeper in front of the net.

Take wrong turns. Talk to strangers. Open unmarked doors. And if you see a group of people in a field, go find out what they are doing. Do things without always knowing how they'll turn out.

If you kill me, I promise you - you will never take me alive.

The writer of history is perhaps closer to the artist than the scholar.