The trouble with an alarm clock is that what seems sensible when you set it seems absurd when it goes off

It is always wiser, where there is a choice, to trust inertia. It is the greatest force in the world.

Only fools and philosophers waste time on the unknowable.

A character who is thought-out is not born, he or she is contrived. A born character is round, a thought-out character is flat.

I like to walk around Manhattan, catching glimpses of its wild life, the pigeons and cats and girls.

The only thing I want is something I can't have; and that is to know if, 100 years from now, people will still buy my books.

[A] pessimist gets nothing but pleasant surprises, an optimist nothing but unpleasant.