In fact, life itself is a contradiction if only because birth is the direct cause, in every single case, of death

I think the Chinese will say the hell with you and pull their money out of the United States. That's the end of our wars.

The word 'radical' derives from the Latin word for root. Therefore, if you want to get to the root of anything you must be radical. It is no accident that the word has now been totally demonized.

Since no one can ever know for certain whether or not his own view of life is the correct one, it is absolutely impossible for him to know if someone else's is the wrong one.

Always a godfather, never a god.

I write in the morning at a table, longhand on yellow legal pads, just like Nixon, when I’m doing fiction.

Writing fiction has become a priestly business in countries that have lost their faith.