The bottom line always remains the same: What is the basic humanity of the character? How do I make them resonate with the reader?

A true friend is someone who is there for you when he'd rather be anywhere else.

Art is always in the eyes of the beholder. Only posterity has the right to point out our mistakes.

When I'm my own editor, there's very little difference between the first draft and the final. I write what feels right to begin with. I rarely make any major changes.

It all depends on which side of the desk you're sitting on.

I always wanted to fire rays out of my fingertips.

I think jazz and comic books are probably the two uniquely American art forms.

In general, shorter is better. If you can encapsulate your idea into a single captivating sentence, you're halfway home.

A writer writes. Period. No matter if someone is buying your work or not.

Unfortunately, there are writers whose only concern is how good they could make themselves look on a title.

I realized the only thing I owed my audience was my own judgment and my own best effort.

Experience is everything.

Scrawny? Baby, I invented scrawny. Scrawny is the new sizzling hot.

Once you're already in hell, it's too late to beg for mercy.

A cheap and easy cynicism rails at everything. The master of the art accomplishes the formidable task of discrimination.

We are all museums of fear.

Only through the development of mutual respect, and in a spirit of truth, can friendship come about. By these means it is possible to move human minds, but never by force.

Confidence! Confidence! Confidence! That is your capital.

I don't consider myself to be a media guy. It just happens to be that I've had opportunities in the media. I don't consider myself to be on a career path. I'm just a Christian and a Catholic priest.

I think one thing we share [with my wife] is a complete bottomless disdain for Bill Clinton.

It's not what is available or unavailable that determines your level of success and happiness; it's what you convince yourself is true.