We have been at war almost constantly since the last century. And it has not helped our institutions. Congress no longer represents the people. The courts do not practice justice any more. The armies never stop playing at being the policemen of the world and of oil.

To a born-again atheist like myself, it is clear that each of us has multiple selves, talents, perceptions. But to the Roman Catholic, unity is all.

A superficial education would be worse than none. But a full education would open every man's eyes to the nature of human existence.

There is something about a bureaucrat that does not like a poem.

If [drugs] didn't exist, our government would have to invent them, the better to enact laws aimed at keeping the citizens "sinless and obedient."

I'm in Hollywood right now, surrounded by nothing but the sons and grandsons of movie stars.

Class is the most difficult subject for American writers to deal with as it is the most difficult for the English to avoid.