Writing is so hard. Why would you be a writer if you weren't really good at it? If you could be anything else, why would you be a writer?

If there had been a job of being a reader, I would have taken that, because I love to read and I don't love to write. That would be blissful.

There are two modes of transport in Los Angeles: car and ambulance. Visitors who wish to remain inconspicuous are advised to choose the latter

Perhaps the least cheering statement ever made on the subject of art is that life imitates it.

Scientists are rarely to be counted among the fun people. Awkward at parties, shy with strangers, deficient in irony - they have had no choice but to turn their attention to the close study of everyday objects.

To me the outdoors is what you must pass through in order to get from your apartment into a taxicab.

We live in a culture where everyone is perfectly willing to do this [to make a lot of money], and they're just looking for the opportunity. Obviously, a person who is really dumb is not gonna make a zillion dollars. But for a person who is really smart, really smart, it's a boring pursuit. It's not endlessly fascinating.