Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.

I'm not a very good writer, but I'm an excellent rewriter.

Many people who want to be writers don't really want to be writers. They want to have been writers. They wish they had a book in print.

America is a nation with many flaws, but hopes so vast that only the cowardly would refuse to acknowledge them.

I wondered how a man ever got an English girl into bed. What did they do with her hockey stick?

If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home.

I don’t know who my parents were. I know nothing about my inheritance. I could be Jewish; I could be part Negro; I could be Irish; I could be Russian. I am spiritually a mix anyway, but I did have a solid childhood fortunately, because of some wonderful women who brought me up. I never had a father or a man in the house, and that was a loss...