Men choose Hamlet because every man sees himself as a disinherited monarch. Women choose Alice [in Wonderland] because every woman sees herself as the only reasonable creature among crazy people who think they are disinherited monarchs.

I don't miss the obligation to be opinionated, but I do regret the chance to share a joy.

I still think the best classic meal in New York is a coffee-shop breakfast - you sort of can't skip it.

I think the worst thing we can do is to concede to fanaticism its devotion, say. Well, you have to understand, these people are really fanatics, so we should back down from them. I think if journalists start doing that then they won't be practicing journalism. If satirists start doing that then they won't be practicing satire.

I think I'm more intensely opinionated when I speak; more agreeably balanced when I write.

Of all the unexpected things in contemporary literature, this is among the oddest: that kids have an inordinate appetite for very long, very tricky, very strange books about places that don't exist...

If you're being attacked from all sides, it's possible you're doing something right; it's also possible that you are doing everything wrong.