The definition of genius, really, should be that that person can do what the rest of us have to learn how to do.

I must confess that when I'm alone in my study, here in New York, writing; that's when I'm happy.

I would say that writing, both the act of writing, and of course reading of other people's work is, for me, supreme joy.

I became a professional actor in Detroit and I was able to earn some money. It was a good job because it permitted me to study. It fit perfectly with school.

When I went to school, my intention was to be a lawyer. When I attended university that was still the clear intention; I was going to be a lawyer. Why? Because it was as far as I could get from my father's antics and world. I thought that the world of the arts probably led people into the kind of behavior I had seen with him and that had resulted in a lot of hard times for my mother and me.

The Pivot Questionnaire that I ask other people, when I have on rare occasion answered it, the answer to the question, "What turns you on?" Is words. Not mine, other people's. Words, words, words, that's what turns me on.

Olivier was another case of a genius, who couldn't understand why anybody would have any trouble doing this, because for him it came so easily.