writing is the loneliest job in the world. There's always that frustrating chasm to bridge between the concept and the writing of it. We're a harassed tribe, we writers.

I'm not happy when I'm writing, but I'm more unhappy when I'm not.

A woman has to be twice as good as a man to go half as far.

Art transcends war. Art is the language of God and war is the barking of men. Beethoven is bigger than war.

Family. A snug kind of word.

The vast army of women seeking divorce are mainly after easy alimony from men they have ceased to love - surely one of the most despicable forms of barter that can exchange human hands.

Nervous hands as if the fingers were dripping from them like icicles.

I would rather regret what I have done than what I have not.

It takes a clever man to turn cynic and a wise man to be clever enough not to.

Few enjoy noisy overcrowded functions. But they are a gesture of goodwill on the part of host or hostess, and also on the part of guests who submit to them.

Any writer worth the name is always getting into one thing or getting out of another thing.

Our choices in life are made according to our sense of our own worth.

Take a wrong turn. Get lost in something you love.

The teacher is the one who gets the most out of the lessons, and the true teacher is the learner.

When truth and reason cannot be heard, then must presumption rule.

What was the function of poetry if not to improve the petty, cautious minds of evasive children?

I think longevity is more important than trying to make people realize you're around every second.

I need to feel like I'm part of something. I need to feel part of the world when I go to sleep.

You were at the age where you could fall in love with a girl over an expression, over a gesture

Science and policy-making thrive on challenge and questioning; they are vital to the health of inquiry and democracy.

Take a play that you like but you think is flawed, and see if you can improve it and turn it into a musical. [...] Then make up your own story.