Humor is a way of holding off how awful life can be, to protect yourself.

My ancestors were all Freethinkers, formerly Catholics. It was science and Darwin, in particular, that made them decide, as educated people, which they were, that the priest, nice as he was, didn't know what he was talking about.

Because we grew up surrounded by big dramatic story arcs in books and movies, we think our lives are supposed to be filled with huge ups and downs. So people pretend there is drama where there is none.

For a Russian to be chivalrous with an American is a spiritual impossibility, a conradiction in terms.

What Franklin Roosevelt did, which really offended them, was he strengthened the labor unions - made it possible for them to strike. The oligarchs were furious because the working class was not supposed to have any power at all.

That's what my books are, now that I'm a grownup - mosaics of jokes.

It is a very mixed blessing to be brought back from the dead.