A talent for drama is not a talent for writing, but is ability to articulate human relationships.

Rome ... at its most decadent, had never thought of hiring an actor to go through the motions of being an emperor while the Praetorian Guard ruled.

The war against terror is like a war against dandruff. It's a metaphor. It's not about anything.

I don't see us winning the war. We have made enemies of one billion Muslims.

We are given our place in time as we are given our eyes: weak, strong, clear, squinting, the thing is not ours to choose. Well, this has been a squinting, walleyed time to be born in.

Where there is no desire or pursuits, there is no wholeness. But there are satisfying lesser states, fragments.

We must always remember that the police are recruited from the criminal classes.