The pain of loss, moreover, however agonizing, however haunting in memory, quiets imperceptibly into acceptance as the currents of active living and of fresh emotions flow over it.

The world is not run by thought, nor by imagination, but by opinion.

The test of literature is, I suppose, whether we ourselves live more intensely for the reading of it.

Too often travel, instead of broadening the mind, merely lengthens the conversations.

The torment of human frustration, whatever its immediate cause, is the knowledge that the self is in prison, its vital force and "mangled mind" leaking away in lonely, wasteful self-conflict.

Democracy, like any non-coercive relationship, rests on a shared understanding of limits.

People are more violently opposed to fur than leather because it's safer to harass rich women than motorcycle gangs. People are very inclined to set moral standards for others.

It takes two to write a letter as much as it takes two to make a quarrel.

Money buys access; access buys influence.

[On newspapers:] A first draft of history.

The Republicans’ plan is that if they can’t buy the 2012 election they will steal it.

God is no fonder of intellectual slackers than He is of any other slacker.

If it ran, a Bean would eat it. If it fell, a Bean would eat it.

And if you can find any way out of our culture, then that's a trap too. Just wanting to get out of the trap reinforces the trap.

If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him.

There's nothing I'm embarrassed about

It's not that I don't enjoy other people, but what I find with writers is this back and forth. And also, there's no need to talk about work.

Sometimes you lose some tournaments you should win and you win some you should lose.

I've got what my ma had, macular degeneration, which you get when you get old.

I wanna be the best, simple and plain

I probably wouldn't be acting if I didn't grow up in Hollywood.