Civilization is a fiction which becomes a fact only as long as everyone can believe in it. It is the cynic, rather than the rebel, who pulls down the whole flimsy structure periodically throughout history.

most of our social and educational institutions are designed to weed out or make over people ... until we produce a world where everyone is a smart, quick-witted, aggressive person living on the surface of the mind without ever looking into the depths.

Diamonds are the tears of the poor.

Wouldn't it be kinder to say that a lie is a short work of fiction? 'A story' as my daughter says?

Thunderstorms were rare in California, but when they came they were, like most things in California, larger than life.

the true and the plausible are rarely the same.

money is an acquired taste that grows as it is fed.