Writing seems like the only job where what you think and feel really matters.

No one should be judged by the worst moment of his life.

The rulings of the past do not always apply in the present.

Aggressiveness is good in a combat leader. Combining that with ambition and insecurity becomes more problematic.

Problem was that we could make things worse but we couldn't make anything better.

The business of writing is empathising with situations that aren't your own.

I was 29 when I wrote my first novel. But I was 45 when I quit for good. I was a 16-year overnight success.

The manuscript you submit [should not] contain any flaws that you can identify - it is up to the writer to do the work, rather than counting on some stranger in Manhattan to do it for him.

Morally repugnant and tactically stupid are a lousy combination.

The only judgment that truly matters is the final judgment.

he knew that men were too complex to be defined by the worst moment in their lives

It wasn't my choice to write this story...it was my responsibility.

Here I find the true nature of the tree - not in the bulk of its shape but in the way its form alters my vision of the world.

Your public servants serve you right; indeed often they serve you better than your apathy and indifference deserve.

Only cream and SOBs rise to the top.

At various periods in American history, people get pretty rambunctious when it comes to our democratic debate.

With me, personal relationships are like my religion. I care that deeply about them. I am the complete opposite of a manipulative smoothie.

Is this politics? I suppose I am going to have to learn all about it, if I am to run Lord Ferris's household, and throw parties and all. Now...explain to me again just who hates who, and why?

We now know that unity, the cornerstone of Canada's greatness and prosperity, is above all a matter of emotion and reason for every citizen.

Disagrees with neocon adviser on immediate need to bomb Iran.

Twenty years from now, I can look at this medal and say, 'I was the best quarter-miler in the world on that day.' If you don't think that's important, you don't know what's inside an athlete's soul.