You don't just have people who wake up in the morning and say, "What evil things can I do today, because I'm Mr. Evil?" People do things for what they think are justified reasons. Everybody is the hero of their own story, and you have to keep that in mind. If you read a lot of history, as I do, even the worst and most monstrous people thought they were the good guys. We're all very tangled knots.

When you have known the kiss of a flaying knife, a laugh loses all its power to hurt you.

A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies.

a man who hates music can’t be trusted, I always say.

They can keep their heaven. When I die, I’d sooner go to Middle Earth.

I have been despised by better men than you.

Art is not a democracy. People don't get to vote on how it ends.