Writing is probably one-fifth coming up with the stuff, and four-fifths self-editing again and again and again.

This world, he thinks, contains just one masterpiece, and that is itself.

A book you finish reading is not the same book it was before you read it.

Our lives are not our own. We are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future.

Have you noticed," said John, "how countries call theirs 'sovereign nuclear deterrents,' but call the other countries' ones 'weapons of mass destruction'?

If losers can exploit what their adversaries teach them, yes, losers can become winners in the long term.

I’m scared of the future. I’m scared of the past. I’m nervous at the moment.