One of the most fascinating aspects of politician-watching is trying to determine to what extent any politician believes what he says.

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

I think we're going to have to accept the fact the U.S. is off the world map. We are not a great player any longer. And when we come home - as we will have to do because we've run out of money - we will discover that Argentine debts means Argentine politics. And on that note, you can wake up in the middle of the night.

Most lives are spent putting on and taking off masks.

I came out of Capitol Hill. Well, that's just not an ordinary background for a writer of the ordinary American sort.

I have no television to go on so I get a lot of writing done. That's my substitute for television.

History is idle gossip about a happening whose truth is lost the instant it has taken place.