You have to respect people's suffering. To deny that the world is unfair and painful for most of the people living in it would be false and judgmental.

Experience as much as you can and absorb a lot of reality. Otherwise, your writing will have the force of a Wiffle ball.

If there's reason for hope, it lies in man's occasional binges of cooperation. To save our planet, we'll need that kind of heroic effort, in which all types of people join forces for the common good

I have nothing but respect for the purist who won't work for the pharaoh. But I'm not that strong.

There's a built-up tension in religion, and if you can release it, you'll get a huge and satisfying laugh.

Every joke can't be dazzling. And if you think you spotted an inconsistency, you did!

I was brought up Catholic and, of course, I strayed and repudiated it. That's a painful thing to go through, because you have to look back and realize that you wasted a gigantic chunk of your life.

I have a deep suspicion of social institutions and tradition in general.

There's absolutely no way that something I do on my own is going to be seen in Malaysia.

I resisted parenthood for a long, long time. But having a daughter has given me a sense of hopefulness that I didn't have before.

Clever is the eunuch version of funny.

I have seen the dark universe yawningWhere the black planets roll without aim, Where they roll in their horror unheeded, Without knowledge, or lustre, or name.

Your silence creates a vacuum for others to fill The key is to stay present and keep listening. The silence of holding steady is different from the silence of holding back.

I count myself really fortunate that I have some lifelong friends. The best thing about a friend is when you are being your own worst enemy a friend can help snap you out of it.

A good education is a stepping-stone to wealth.

A shamefaced man makes a bad beggar.

Seriously, in America there are more big, curvy girls than there are little girls, and men love us, too.

One of the difficulties in understanding the brain is that it is like nothing so much as a lump of porridge.

Second best is not good enough really. Although if someone turned around now and said 'you will be promoted, but you will come in second' then I would take it.

How many undervalue the power of simplicity ! But it is the real key to the heart.