If you imagine the world listening, you'll never write a line. That's why privacy is so important. You should write first drafts as if they will never be shown to anyone.

Mediocre prose might be read as an escape, might be spoken on television by actors, or mouthed in movies. But mediocre poetry did not exist at all. If poetry wasn't good, it wasn't poetry. It was that simple.

Always do the things you fear the most. Courage is an acquired taste, like caviar.

Sex and creativity are often seen by dictators as subversive activities.

If you've been a pretty woman and always pursued by lovers, losing that and not having that - it feels like a great loss.

I think the Jews are an amazing group of people and their survival is amazing.

I prefer to work in the morning. I get up now at five in the morning. In the morning is when I feel freshest.