Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith, I consider a capacity for it terrifying and absolutely vile.

Like all real heroes, Charley had a fatal flaw. He refused to believe that he had gonorrhea, whereas the truth was that he did.

There are plenty of good reasons for fighting.

Well, it's practically over, thank God - I'm 83, there won't be that much more of it to put up with I don't think!

One of the main effects of war, after all, is that people are discouraged from being characters.

In real life as in grand opera, arias only make hopeless situations worse.

I consider anybody a twerp who hasn't read the greatest American short story, which is 'Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,' by Ambrose Bierce.