[Freud] "sat in his quiet cozy study in Vienna, glad to be back. He said to Ernest Jones, America is a mistake, a gigantic mistake.” Ragtime

Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.

All secrets become deep. All secrets become dark. That's in the nature of secrets.

Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader - not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon.

When in trouble or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout.

Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go.

Never underestimate the determination of a kid who is time-rich and cash-poor.

I am often asked the question How can the masses permit themselves to be exploited by the few. The answer is By being persuaded to identify with them.

The three most important documents a free society gives are a birth certificate, a passport, and a library card.

Writers are not just people who sit down and write. They hazard themselves. Every time you compose a book your composition of yourself is at stake.

Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.

Success doesn't come to procrastinators, but only to men of action

I begin with the principle that all men are bores. Surely no one will prove himself so great a bore as to contradict me in this.

What do you think of Christmas?""I like it, " she said. "I think we should have it every year.

I love country, folk, and strong female voices, like Alison Krauss, Dolly Parton, PJ Harvey, and Kate Bush.

There is nothing worth living for, unless it is worth dying for.

If Sun were to hand the management of Java over to a committee of monkeys, would it be more successful?

There are simply no public figures today who so challenge the elite business and government establishment and so champion the working class as Jimmy Hoffa did almost daily and with arrogance.

I dyed my hair blonde in that movie, so my head doesn't match my grill.

Nor ought we ever to allow any growing power to acquire such a degree of strength as to be able to tear from us, without resistance, our natural, undisputed rights.

People can be cruelest to those they love.