While clothes with pictures and/or writing on them are not entirely an invention of the modern age, they are an unpleasant indication of the general state of things. ... I mean, be realistic. If people don't want to listen to you, what makes you think they want to hear from your sweater?

I walk a lot in New York, not for the exercise but to get from place to place, and because it's the way of having the least contact with human beings.

This idea that people have to love and understand each other is absurd. It's not human nature.

When I started publishing, I got offers to write for big magazines. But I would always say, "Well, it's not that I don't want to write for these big magazines, but you can't edit it."

Children are much less annoying [than adults] and they never start trends.

I don't care if New York avoided bankruptcy by substituting tourism for the garment business.

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.