I was no longer able to hear the music that issues from a decent piece of prose.

Every book has a soul, the soul of the person who wrote it and the soul of those who read it and dream about it.

I don't suppose you have many friends. Neither do I. I don't trust people who say they have a lot of friends. It's a sure sign that they don't really know anyone.

Over time, loneliness gets inside you and doesn't go away.

Don't be afraid of being scared. To be afraid is a sign of common sense. Only complete idiots are not afraid of anything.

We spend a good part of our lives dreaming, especially when we're awake.

We all give up great expectations along the way.

I can't die yet, doctor. Not yet. I have things to do. Afterwords I'll have a whole lifetime in which to die.

I've always said that idleness dulls the spirit. We have to keep the brain busy, or at least the hands if we don't have a brain.

It is impossible to survive in a prolonged state of reality.

Silence makes idiots seem wise even for a minute.

Coincidences are the explanations of lazy and cowardly people for what they don't understand.

Who am I? I'm a man, an American, a father, a teacher, but most of all, I am a person who knows how the arts can change lives, because they transformed mine. I was a dancer.

There is no right by the federal or state constitution to manual recounts. There is no law that says that you must count dimpled ballots, constitutional or otherwise.

If people wanted to fight me-because of my hair or because my skin was too dark-then I fought them

Fat is where comedy is stored.

Don't force anything. Let life be a deep let go.

The best philanthropy is constantly in search of the finalities-a search for a cause, an attempt to cure evils at their source.

Apparently, I get facials and manicures all the time. I read this and think, 'Oh, I wish I did that!' I don't think I've had a facial since I was 19.

I like to think each writer is doing his or her part. Feeding the lake, as Jean Rhys said. And maybe there are different lakes.

What am I grateful for? Aside from my own great life, you mean? I'm just grateful that my wife, and daughter, and dogs are all healthy.