It's a no-win argument - that business of what we're born with and what our environment does to us. And it's a boring argument, because it simplifies the mysteries that attend both our birth and our growth.

Whereas she wished more of the population were better educated, she also believed that education was largely wasted on the majority of the people she met.

Our memory is a monster; you forget it - it does not.

I don't begin a novel or a screenplay until I know the ending. And I don't mean only that I have to know what happens. I mean that I have to hear the actual sentences. I have to know what atmosphere the words convey.

The excitement of anticipation was *almost* equal to the thrill of lovemaking.

Wrestling was my first success, the first thing that confirmed that I could be good at anything. Devoting yourself to wrestling, or tennis, or skiing, or dance, or to a musical instrument is a longing to be disciplined for a purpose.

The main character and the most important character are not always the same person - you have to know the difference.