To every man in the world there is one person of whom he knows little: whom he would never recognize if he met him walking down the street, whose motives are a mystery to him. That is himself.

God forbid that any book should be banned. The practice is as indefensible as infanticide.

I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat.

Motherhood is the strangest thing, it can be like being one's own Trojan horse.

The main difference between men and women is that men are lunatics and women are idiots.

There is no logical reason why the camel of great art should pass through the needle of mob intelligence.

The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning.

All men should have a drop of treason in their veins, if nations are not to go soft like so many sleepy pears.

The trouble about man is twofold. He cannot learn truths which are too complicated; he forgets truths which are too simple.

The mind is its own enemy, that fights itself with the innumerable pliant and ineluctable arms of the octopus.

Writing has nothing to do with communication between person and person, only with communication between different parts of a person's mind.

How can wealth persuade poverty to use its political freedom to keep wealth in power? Here lies the whole art of Conservative politics.

the kiss and the bite are such close cousins that in the heat of love they are too readily confounded

Deeds of endurance, which seem ordinary in philosophy, are rare in conduct.

After all those years as a woman hearing 'not thin enough, not pretty enough, not smart enough, not this enough, not that enough, ' almost overnight I woke up one morning and thought, 'I'm enough.'

My wife, if she wants it, she will just go out and buy it.

The ability to see our lives as stories rather than unrelated, random events increases the possibility for significant and purposeful action.

What is the life of a man more than the life of a lamb, or any guiltless animal?

When you've got a great business going, you go open another and take the risk of losing the whole thing. It's fun!

I like connecting with people, and that's what good art is, a point of connection. There's nothing better, on stage or on film, than feeling like you've achieved that.

See the possibility that people and things can change at any time and don't hold on to judgements.