I myself have never been enchanted by the dream of the white wedding, and, heaven help us, the expectation that this exquisitely catered event should be 'the happiest moment' of one's life.

Nothing is so essential as dignity…Time will reveal who has it and who has it not.

You can butcher the sheep only once. But if you are careful, you can shear the sheep every year.

I see women who have this struggle between what they know is right, what they know is necessary, what they know is healthy, what they know is good for them, what they know is good for the work that they need to do, what they know is good for their bodies, what they know is good for their families - all too often ending that statement with the upturned question mark: "If it's okay with everyone?" Still asking, still requesting, still filing petitions for somebody to say that it's all right.

Venice is beautiful, but like a Bergman movie is beautiful; you can admire it, but you don't really want to live in it.

In a world of disorder and disaster and fraud, sometimes only beauty can be trusted. Only artistic excellence is incorruptible. Pleasure cannot be bargained down. And sometimes the meal is the only currency that is real.

Never forget that once upon a time, in an unguarded moment, you recognized yourself as a friend.