Writing was a spiritual exercise for my father, the only thing he really believed in.

Reading and writing are in themselves subversive acts. What they subvert is the notion that things have to be the way they are, that you are alone, that no one has ever felt the way you have.

We feel through our minds, we live through our hearts, and we love through our eyes.

Forget about the great astounding victory. Focus on winning small victories every day, the final victory will come by itself

Remember that the successful marriage depends on two things: (1) finding the right person and (2) being the right person.

I do not claim any of the creation of the blues, although I have written many of them even before Mr. Handy had any blues published. I heard them when I was knee-high to a duck.

I think for everyone it's good to have your own personal work on a character and a film before you even start rehearsing, to have an inner life.

True happiness lies within you.

Such is the patriot's boast, where'er we roam, His first best country ever is at home.

The past is able to close round certain moments, as if they were seeds, and deliver them again fresh and living in the present.

Beauty is an ecstasy; it is as simple as hunger. There is really nothing to be said about it. It is like the perfume of a rose: you can smell it and that is all.

I'll invest my money in people.