I never overcame my conviction that writing for commercial television was a kind of prostitution.

Fact One: Cataract surgery is simple, painless and (except with implants) risk free ... the whole procedure is common, routine and nothing to worry about. Fact Two: Fact One applies only to cataracts on the eyes in somebody else's head.

I personally can't think of anything less sacrosanct than a bad book or even a mediocre book.

And for at least that moment, I wouldn't have traded the hundreds of books I've read for the few I know almost by heart.

I love inscriptions on flyleaves and notes in margins, I like the comradely sense of turning pages someone else turned, and reading passages someone long gone has called my attention to.

Talent is the infinite capacity for taking pains. Genius is the infinite capacity for achievement without taking any pains at all.

Hollywood isn't a place, it's a way of life.