How marvelous books are, crossing worlds and centuries, defeating ignorance and, finally, cruel time itself.

If you are at the mercy of what they call print interviews and the mercy of people who write about you, they can always tell lies.

In almost every case (where the United States has fought wars) our overwhelming commitment to freedom, democracy and human rights has required us to support those regimes that would deny freedom, democracy and human rights to their own people.

Religions sprang up among men to deal with the sometimes terrifying aspects of existence, to make sense out of the senseless, to explain things we find inexplicable.

The Americans are clever. They thoroughly understand things that have to do with money, war, death, sickness. And there is also a real tradition of skepticism in this country.

Truman Capote has made lying an art. A minor art.

Fifty percent of people won't vote, and fifty percent don't read newspapers. I hope it's the same fifty percent.