The arrogance of the artist is a very profound thing, and it fortifies you.

Creative geniuses are a slap-happy lot. Treat Them with respect.

The most sheer fun I ever had in sports was playing volleyball, a game I commend highly. I understand that an effort is under way to establish a national league of professional volleyball teams, and if you have ever seen the great women's teams of Japan and Russia or the equally good men's teams of Cuba and East Germany, you know how exciting this playground game, which requires so little equipment, can be.

Every animal that walks the earth, or swims, or flies is precious beyond description, something so rare and wonderful that it equals the stars or the ocean or the mind of man.

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.

Religious hatreds ought not to be propagated at all, but certainly not on a tax-exempt basis.

I have only one bit of advice to beginning writers: be sure your novel is read by Rodgers and Hammerstein.