I've been alienating my public since I was 20 years old. When 'American Buffalo' came out on Broadway, people would storm out and say, 'How dare he use that kind of language!' Of course I'm alienating the public! That's what they pay me for.

The quality I most admire in a man is steadfastness.

The true writer must write not the acceptable but the true.

I've always been more comfortable sinking while clutching a good theory than swimming with an ugly fact.

There's nothing in the world more silent than the telephone the morning after everybody pans your play. It won't ring from room service; your mother won't be calling you. If the phone has not rung by 8 in the morning, you're dead.

A liberal pretending to be a conservative? That's like a straight person pretending to be gay to get greater acceptance.

Films have degenerated to their original operation as carnival amusement - they offer not drama but thrills.