The received image of a writer is that of an unproductive sensitive who suffers from the vapors, is enslaved by his gonads, falls victim to romantic swoons and passes out at deadlines.

Egotism is the art of seeing in yourself what others cannot see.

The characters are telling you the story. I'm not telling you the story, they're going to do it. If I do it right, you will get the whole story.

What You Lose on the Swings You Make Up on the Merry-Go-Round.

Life is hard but being stupid makes it harder.

Writing is the only trade I know of in which sniveling confessions of extreme incompetence are taken as credentials probative of powers to astound the multitude.

Show the reader what the character thinks about, and then the reader will think about it too.

You cannot write well without data.

The Red Sox are a religion. Every year we re-enact the agony and the temptation in the Garden. Baseball child's play? Hell, up here in Boston it's a passion play.

Nobody ever got started on a career as a writer by exercising good judgment, and no one ever will, either, so the sooner you break the habit of relying on yours, the faster you will advance.

Rental formal wear of the sky-blue, brocade and shiny varieties is favored by upwardly mobile young gangsters drafted as groomsmen for weddings.

Nobody values your time but YOU.

In science, the best precept is to alter and exchange our ideas as fast as science moves ahead.

The bravest sight in all this world is a man fighting against odds.

The United States has used force abroad more than 130 times, but has only declared war five times - the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Spanish-American War, and World Wars I and II.

Integrity is the integration of ideals, convictions, standards, beliefs-and behavior. When our behavior is congruent with our professed values, when ideals and practice match up, we have integrity.

I'm not so interested in the effort that it takes to have a self-promotional outlook. I believe in being quiet and making my work and just trying to make discoveries and let the painting evolve.

If I were emperor of the world, I would put the pedal to the floor on energy efficiency and conservation for the next decade.

Whose life is it, anyway?

I don't wanna sound pretentious talking about myself.

People are still thinking of solving problems by violence and war, and that has to stop.