I sometimes feel that if your book sells more than 20 years, then there's something in it that you can say, gee, I did something that endures, that's timeless

Power doesn't always corrupt. Power can cleanse. What I believe is always true about power is that power always reveals.

I think President Obama has done more than he is given credit for.

You come in off the street, through the doors of the theater. You sit down. The lights go down and the curtain goes up. And you're in another world

The Senate is an unknowing world

There used to be this feeling under Eisenhower and Kennedy and Roosevelt and Truman that government was a solution. Trust in the presidency fell precipitously under Johnson - real lows. And it's never come back. It's a trend that, if you're liberal, is really discouraging.

The ballet embodies the notes of music. And sometimes you almost feel like you can see the notes dance up there on the stage.