You can't go around hoping that most people have sterling moral characters. The most you can hope for is that people will pretend that they do.

I always make a big effort to make a distinction between what is actually worse or what is just worse about not being 21. Of course, it's much worse not to be 21. This is a given. But there are things that are worse.

To me, the main difference between young people now and the people I was young with isn't so much style, it's the relationships they have with their parents. Their parents like them much more than ours liked us. Our parents weren't our friends. But now I see my friends on the phones with their, what, 30 - year - old kids? And they're talking about feelings.

I write so slowly, I could write with my own blood and not hurt myself.

If people don't hold grudges, it means they just don't care what people do.

Humility is no substitute for a good personality.

I wouldn't say that I dislike the young. I'm simply not a fan of naïveté.