My mother was Irish and she was superstitious, if you'll forgive the tautology.

Taking joy in living is a woman's best cosmetic.

Taste. You cannot buy such a rare and wonderful thing. You can't send away for it in a catalogue. And I'm afraid it's becoming obsolete.

Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death.

When something happens to you, you either let it defeat you, or you defeat it.

Flops are a part of life's menu and I've never been a girl to miss out on any of the courses.

Seal my lips on aches and pains. They are increasing, and love of rehearsing them is becoming sweeter as the years go by.

Success is a public affair. Failure is a private funeral.

Moments. A couple of moments that people remember, that they can take with them, is what makes a good movie.

Do you know what makes a movie work? Moments. Give the audience half a dozen moments they can remember, and they'll leave the theatre happy.

Where is there beauty when you see deprivation and starvation?

Where I come from, we're more about efficiency, ' he replies. 'A knife like this'll skewer food, smear butter, and slit throats all at the same time.

It was, she had to admit, some kind of wonderful to be kissed so deliciously by the only mand who had dared play with her cat with the intention of winning.

I definitely have a sexual ego thing. But if I'm suggestive, it's in a nice way. Luckily, no one's ever been hurt...a few girls have passed out, that's all.

Everyone likes the obscene; that is real life.

A person is not learned nor wise because he talks much; the person who is patient, free from hatred and fear, that person is called learned and wise.

I don't have many friends. It's not because I'm a misanthrope. It's because I'm reserved. I'm self-contained. I get all my adventures in my head when I'm writing my books.

I was raised in an Orthodox Jewish household and I wouldn't say so much it's informed my views, but it's informed my interest, so I think as a child I was often very baffled by knowledge claims.

I did not stop dancing; I did take two years off to get myself together.

Sometimes I think women are lucky because they can develop in ways men can't. The old-boy network may be oppressive to women, but it actually stunts men in terms of personal growth.

As in the eye of Nature he has lived, So in the eye of Nature let him die!