When the male organ of a man stands erect, two thirds of his intelect go away. And one third of his religion.

You can't state difference and also state equality. We have to state sameness to understand equality.

As far as I'm concerned, if you want to find out about the last day of WWII or the roots of the Indian Mutiny, get thee to a books catalogue.

The past is always tense, the future perfect.

Protect the time and space in which you write. Keep everybody away from it, even the people who are most important to you.

Every moment happens twice: inside and outside, and they are two different histories.

Don’t romanticise your ‘vocation’. You can either write good sentences or you can’t. There is no ‘writer’s lifestyle’. All that matters is what you leave on the page.

Time is how you spend your love.

I am the sole author of the dictionary that defines me.

Don't confuse honours with achievement.

Pulchritude--beauty where you would least suspect it, hidden in a word that looked like it should signify a belch or a skin infection.

When I looked at a map in town, Rhode Island seemed lost up there in the corner. A state so small and crowded, there didn't seem to be room for a person at all.

The way I choose to live my own life rates time and space as real luxuries.

Life's greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved.

All music is important if it comes from the heart.

I love Ireland. I feel very at peace there. It's just magical and beautiful.

The masses think that is is easy to flee from reality, when it is the most difficult thing in the world.

I think that being thrown into instant fame must be, at times, difficult.

Social Security faces a long-term actuarial deficit, yes.

Sometimes I can spend months doing things to make sure that my instincts work correctly, but ultimately it's still instinctive.

If you weren't surprised by your life you wouldn't be alive. Life is surprise.