In America, the race goes to the loud, the solemn, the hustler. If you think you're a great writer, you must say that you are.

Who gives a damn about being remembered? That's really for amateurs.

The more money an American accumulates, the less interesting he becomes.

For the average American, freedom of speech is simply the freedom to repeat what everyone else is saying and no more.

The oligarchs think that the people are both dangerous and stupid. Their point is moot. But we do know that the oligarchs are a good deal more dangerous to the polity than the people at large.

Some of my father's fellow West Pointers once asked him why I turned out so well, his secret in raising me. And he said, "I never gave him any advice, and he never asked for any." We agreed on nothing, but we never quarreled once.

In writing and politicking, it's best not to think about it, just do it.