Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it.

The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.

When evil is allowed to compete with good, evil has an emotional populist appeal that wins out unless good men and women stand as a vanguard against abuse.

Politically, the weakness of the argument has always been that those who choose the lesser evil forget very quickly that they chose evil.

This is the precept by which I have lived: Prepare for the worst; expect the best; and take what comes.

The greatest enemy of authority, therefore, is contempt, and the surest way to undermine it is laughter.

One of the greatest advantages of the totalitarian elites of the twenties and thirties was to turn any statement of fact into a question of motive.

There is a strange interdependence between thoughtlessness and evil.

Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.

There are no dangerous thoughts; thinking itself is dangerous.

Only the hypocrite is really rotten to the core.

But you are, you know, you were, the nearest thing to a real story to happen in my life

I got a guitar when I was about 14, for a Christmas present, and went from there.

If you have something to say and say nothing, you are really telling a lie.

Lately I been drinking like there's a message in a bottle

When I turned 40 I thought, 'I have to really make sure I have time to myself,' because it's very overwhelming to be taking care of so many people.

Many a poem is marred by a superfluous verse.

Knowing is half the battle. Explaining it is the other half.

We should aim for our children to be good people, and to live ethical lives that manifest concern for others as well as for themselves.

If an artist has talent, he needs no other critic.

You don't just sit in the car and let some guy drive you through life, wasting your time.