She had no God to plead to for mercy or luck. It would be true to say she depended instead on human kindness and painkillers.

In the new quiet I heard the sea as if my ears were laid against the ocean floor. I could hear everything. The rumbling earthquake of a ship and spider crabs moving between weeds.

Afterwards, I will have to tie the trees to bamboo poles so the wind will not determine their shape. A tree cannot be given form by the vagaries of the wind.

Democracy is always an unfinished experiment, testing the capacity of each generation to live freedom nobly.

Writing does not cause misery, it is born of misery.

Both for Havana's beauty and decay, it's very hard to restrain yourself from staring everywhere you look.

Tell a thousand people to draft a letter, let them debate every phrase, and see how long it takes and what you get.

Excellence is the best weapon against prejudice.

Do we not all agree to call rapid thought and noble impulse by the name of inspiration?

Apathy is the self-defense of the powerless.

I'm very self-conscious as an actor, with performances and things, and I don't like watching my own stuff.

Fewer Americans are at work today than in April 2000, even though the population since then has grown by 31 million.

We read best what we read most.