It is by all odds the loftiest of cities. It even managed to reach the highest point in the sky at the lowest moment of the depression.

Advice to young writers wo want to get ahead without any annoying delays: don't write about Man, write about a man.

All that I hope to say in books, all that I ever hope to say, is that I love the world.

Humor is like a frog. You can dissect it to see how it works, but by then, it's dead.

Extreme cold when it first arrives seems to generate cheerfulness and sociability. For a few hours all life's dubious problems are dropped in favor of the clear and congenial task of keeping alive.

Old age is a special problem for me because I've never been able to shed the mental image I have of myself - a lad of about 19.

A single flight of planes no bigger than a wedge of geese can quickly end this island fantasy, burn the towers, crumble the bridges, turn the underground passages into lethal chambers, cremate millions... Of all targets New York has a certain clear priority. In the mind of whatever perverted dreamer might loose the lightning, New York must hold a steady, irresistible charm.