A story has to be a good date, because the reader can stop at any time. Remember, readers are selfish and have no compulsion to be decent about anything.

Roses are red, And ready for plucking, You're sixteen, And ready for high school.

We are healthy only to the extent that our ideas are humane.

What he meant, of course, was that there would always be wars, that they were as easy to stop as glaciers. I believe that, too. And even if wars didn't keep coming like glaciers, there would still be plain old death.

The worst thing about film, from my point of view, is that it cripples illusions which I have encouraged people to create in their heads. Film doesn't create illusion. It makes them impossible. It is a bullying form of reality, like the model rooms in the furniture department of Bloomingdale's.

You should be careful about who you pretend to be, because who you pretend to be - is actually who you are!

Characters paralyzed by the meaninglessness of modern life still have to drink water from time to time.