People were excited by violence. What, after all, was the sexual act but a voluntarily endured assault, a momentary death?

The secret of contentment is never to allow yourself to want anything which reason tells you you haven't a chance of getting.

It shows considerable wisdom to know what you want in life and then to direct all your energies towards getting it.

A politician is required to listen to humbug, talk humbug, condone humbug. The most we can hope for is that we don't actually believe it.

I learned early and at that kitchen table that there are ways of avoiding, without guilt, the commitments of love.

Time didn't heal, but it anesthetized. The human mind could only feel so much.

Open your mind to new experiences, particularly to the study of other ­people. Nothing that happens to a writer – however happy, however tragic – is ever wasted.