I became a journalist because one didn't have to specialise.

Unlike other countries, it was founded on written proclamations. America is an ideal as well as a republic. Its documents are open to revisions. They're works in progress. There's an invitation to participate.

You should be nicer to him,' a schoolmate had once said to me of some awfully ill-favored boy. 'He has no friends.' This, I realized with a pang of pity that I can still remember, was only true as long as everybody agreed to it.

For the people who ostensibly wish me well or are worried about my immortal soul, I say I take it kindly.

One of the most repellent spectacles at election times is the pretense of piety on the part of people running for office.

I'm not resigned, but I'm realistic too. The statistics in my case are very poor. Not many people come through esophageal cancer and live to talk about it, or not for long.

I retain what's interesting to me, but I don't have a lot of strategic depth.