One thing leads to another? Not always. Sometimes one thing leads to the same thing. Ask an addict.

Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist.

Did you ever look at your watch, and you look away... and you don't know what time it is?

I went through the usual stages: imp, rascal, scalawag, whippersnapper. And, of course, after that it's just a small step to full-blown sociopath.

There's an idea that the human body is somehow evil and bad and there are parts of it that are especially evil and bad, and we should be ashamed. Fear, guilt and shame are built into the attitude toward sex and the body. It's reflected in these prohibitions and these taboos that we have.

How come when it’s us, it’s an abortion, and when it’s a chicken, it’s an omelette?

I think there's a little more attention to human needs than to property rights. But I don't think much of political activism. It's so shortsighted. Most people are interested in their own personal comfort. I've said that about environmentalists. I think they care about bike paths and places to park their Volvos, not the planet as an abstraction.