The difference between writing a book and being on television is the difference between conceiving a child and having a baby made in a test tube.

We are all so guilty at the way we have allowed the world around us to become more ugly and tasteless every year that we surrender to terror and steep ourselves in it.

One thing I've learned in all these years is not to make love when you really don't feel it; there's probably nothing worse you can do to yourself than that.

Every time a story about me appears in a newspaper, I am injured professionally.

You can't be a serious writer of fiction unless you believe the story you are telling.

Part of the oncoming demise (of New York during its terrible fiscal crisis) is that none of us can simply believe it. We were always the best and the strongest of cities, and our people were vital to the teeth. Knock them down eight times and they would get up with that look in the eye which suggests the fight has barely begun.

Giving a camera to Diane Arbus is like putting a live grenade in the hands of a child.