My soul knows my meat is doing bad things, and is embarrassed. But my meat just keeps right on doing bad, dumb things.

I think about my education sometimes. I went to the University of Chicago for awhile after the Second World War. I was a student in the Department of Anthropology. At that time they were teaching that there was absolutely no difference between anybody. They may be teaching that still. Another thing they taught was that no one was ridiculous or bad or disgusting. Shortly before my father died, he said to me, ‘You know – you never wrote a story with a villain in it.’ I told him that was one of the things I learned in college after the war.

If you really want to hurt your parents and you don't have nerve enough to be homosexual, the least you can do is go into the arts.

Socialism is, in fact, a form of Christianity, people wishing to imitate Christ.

I can think of no more stirring symbol of man's humanity to man than a fire engine.

He had the air of a spy in a melodrama, missing nothing, liking nothing, looking forward to the great day when everything would be turned upside down.

Do you think Arabs are dumb? They gave us our numbers. Try doing long division with Roman numerals.