Women aren't very bright," Rip says. "Studies have been done.

I like to dissect girls. Did you know I'm utterly insane?

I do not feel I have a legacy to protect.

I think my sensibility is very literary; all my books were built as books, and I wasn't thinking about them being movies.

I'm not a big believer in disciplined writers. What does discipline mean? The writer who forces himself to sit down and write for seven hours every day might be wasting those seven hours if he's not in the mood and doesn't feel the juice. I don't think discipline equals creativity.

When we sat down to eat I took inventory of the people in the room, and the remnants of my good mood evaporated when I realized how very little I had in common with them – the career dads, the responsible and diligent moms – and I was soon filled with dread and loneliness. I locked in on the smug feeling of superiority that married couples give off and that permeated the air – the shared assumptions, the sweet and contented apathy, it all lingered everywhere – despite the absence in the room of anyone single at which to aim this.

The seeds of love have taken hold and if we won't burn together, I'll burn alone.