There is something that falls short of perfection in every book, without exception, something influenced by the age, even something ridiculous; just like everyone, without exception, has weaknesses.

Lovers of literature will look for the remains of the golden treasure in that shipwreck on the bottom of the sea of criticism.

When the Communist Party comes to power, it acts a lot like the mafia: If you are a loyal member in good standing, everything is yours. You're protected, even if you commit a crime.

Artists hold out the mirror to the bruises on the face of the world.

Arnošt Lustig is one of the leading contemporary Czech fiction writers, and certainly the most important Jewish writer of Bohemia to have survived the Holocaust.

On a mental level, kindness and compassion give rise to lasting joy.

To overcome something great you must first learn to overcome your own fears.

I so seldom had to dispose of a human body myself, I was at a loss. Fairies turned into dust, and vampires flaked away. Demons had to be burned. Humans were very troublesome.

One of the most effective ways to overcome anxiety is to try to shift the focus of attention away from self and toward others.

We want to make sure that Social Security is fixed for those people who have had that promise and there's something in the future for our younger workers. And we're not about to do a welfare program.

There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance-that principle is contempt prior to investigation.

Habit is a good thing for the human race. ... You have to spend so much energy just getting through the day when you have no habits that you don't have any left for productive labor.

Sound is a subtle form of speech and then more subtle than sound is silence and that's like the realm of being.

I'd love to work with Francis Ford Coppola. I met Coppola on an airplane.

I think audiences have hit the wall with CGI and special effects. They have seen so many over-the-top events that they can't suspend disbelief.