In America few people will trust you unless you are irreverent.

I think it's bad to talk about one's present work, for it spoils something at the root of the creative act. It discharges the tension.

I become an actor, a quick-change artist, as if I can trap the Prince of Truth in the act of switching a style.

The contradictory remarks of politicians are forgotten; the more asinine predictions of pundits are buried with mercy.

Writing for a newspaper is like running a revolutionary war. You go to battle not when you are ready, but when action offers itself.

You're gambling with something vital. Most writers get smashed egos.

I don't trust compliments. I've been getting them for years. Sometimes I deserve them, sometimes I didn't. But generally when people give you compliments there's one of two things wrong with them. Either they're false, or what's worse is they're sincere. They really mean the compliment. And then they're offering you their loyalty. And I'm kind of a stingy... Well, I don't necessarily want to give all that loyalty back. So either way, let's skip the compliments.