It takes a lot of doing to die.

It doesn't take long to write things of which you know nothing. When you write of actual things, it takes longer, because you have to live them first.

Some people do crossword puzzles. I do books.

Suffering is also good, it makes a person rich in charachter.

I can never give a 'yes' or a 'no.' I don't believe everything in life can be settled by a monosyllable.

Who wants to die? Everything struggles to live. Look at that tree growing up there out of that grating. It gets no sun, and water only when it rains. It's growing out of sour earth. And it's strong because its hard struggle to live is making it strong. My children will be strong that way.

There's a tree that grows in Brooklyn. Some people call it the Tree of Heaven. No matter where its seed falls, it makes a tree which struggles to reach the sky.