My father believed, like Pericles, that a mans genius could be easily judged by the number of unenlightened fools set in phalanx against his ideas.

The biggest impact my father had on my life was teaching the importance of literacy.

For someone who loves literature, and all books on principle, being asked to name three titles over a half century of serious reading is akin to asking one to recall their three favorite sunsets.

My father thought of himself as a tradesman. A craftsman.

My father valued patriotism above all other social obligations, but he had his own particular interpretation of just how true patriotism was meant to function.

You didnt grow up in the shadow of John Steinbeck. He put you on his shoulders and gave you all the light you wanted.

I like writing, but I write for self-improvement more than I do for money.

Plot makes the character just as history makes the man.

I started writing serious books so late because I knew Id be accused of riding on my fathers coattails.

Since I cant write the greatest American novel, Im going to write the longest American novel.

The natural laws of life is not an idea but the truth that holds life on existence. Once you realize the truth within, all your problems and queries of life, cease to exist.

Nobody ever feels they’re doing well with teenagers, ” he said. “I think that’s kind of the point of them.

The only answer to the endless chains of why, why, why is that the alternatives died

Afterward, there was some debate as to whether we'd actually "done it properly," which gives you some idea of the awesome skill and artful dexterity of my lovemaking technique.

Both worry and stress reek of arrogance.

Don't blame it on the sunshine. Don't blame it on the moonlight. Blame it on the boogie.

Basically I'm trying to make men more sensitive and women stronger.

Every act is an act of self definition.

In our generation, the role models were Gandhi and Nehru. We revered them. They were venerated personalities. I read almost every speech of Nehru.

The thought came to me that all one loves in art becomes beautiful. Beauty is nothing but the expression of the fact that something is being loved. Only thus could she be defined.