The job of a storyteller is to tell stories, and I have concentrated on that obligation.

I think young people ought to seek that differential experience that is going to knock them off dead center. I was a typical American school boy. I happened to get straight A's and be pretty good in sports. But I had no great vision of what I could be. And I never had any yearning.

If a man happens to find himself, he has a mansion which he can inhabit with dignity all the days of his life.

Millions upon millions of years ago, when the continents were already formed and the principal features of the earth had been decided, there existed, then as now, one aspect of the world that dwarfed all other ... a mighty ocean, resting uneasily to the east of the largest continent, a restless ever-changing, gigantic body of water that would later be described as Pacific.

No invader has ever conquered the heart of Poland, that spirit which is the inheritance of sons and daughters, the private passion of families and the ancient, unbreakable tie to all those who came before.

I do believe that everyone growing up faces differential opportunities. With me, it was books and travel and some good teachers.

...when men ignite in their hearts a religious fury, they inflict at the same time a blindness on their eyes.