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.

Left-wingers are incapable of conspiring because they are all egomaniacs.

To know what you want to say is not the best condition for writing a novel. Novels go happiest when you discover something you did not know you knew: an insight into one of your opaque characters, a metaphor that startles you... a truth... that used to elude you.

To be married to a good woman is to live with tender surprise.

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

There's nothing glorious about being a professional. . . . Professionalism probably comes down to being able to work on a bad day.

There is a no man's land between sex and love, and it alters in the night.