Even in a time of elephantine vanity and greed, one never has to look far to see the campfires of gentle people.

I think the most un-American thing you can say is, 'You can't say that.'

I love New York, and I'm drawn to a certain intensity of life, but I've just never felt like I want to escape from the Midwest. A writer lives a great deal in his own head, and so one intuitively finds places where your head is more clear. New York for me is one of those places.

Lake Wobegon, the little town that time forgot and the decades cannot improve.

One reads books in order to gain the privilege of living more than one life. People who don't read are trapped in a mine shaft, even if they think the sun is shining.

To choose Norm Coleman over Walter Mondale is like going to a great steakhouse and ordering the tuna sandwich.

Not everyone has a Life's Work. Some people simply have a Life.