Geniuses always think it's easier than we make it out to be.

I think that anybody's craft is fascinating. A taxi driver talking about taxi driving is going to be very, very interesting.

If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

I work seven days a week and I work about 12 hours a day, from the beginning of September to about the end of May; the school year. I take two days off, Christmas and New Year's, Thanksgiving sometimes - two and a half. And the result is that I bonded myself to my desk.

I was originally going to be a lawyer, and the only thing I remember from the art of cross-examination is - you can see this one coming up Sixth Avenue - never ask a question the answer to which you do not know.

Our language, one of our most precious natural resources, deserves at least as much protection as our woodlands, streams and whooping cranes.

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