There is nothing more intoxicating than victory, and nothing more dangerous.

The problem with human beings is that they can't sit alone in a room for more than an hour.

Playing with appearances and mastering the arts of deception are among the aesthetic pleasures of life. They are also key components in the acquisition of power.

You must always be prepared to place a bet on yourself, on your future, by heading in a direction that others seem to fear.

I want to be able to write, that's my first love and I don't want to deviate from it even though I probably could have made a lot more money.

When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinxlike. Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less. The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.

In the future, the great division will be between those who have trained themselves to handle these complexities and those who are overwhelmed by them -- those who can acquire skills and discipline their minds and those who are irrevocably distracted by all the media around them and can enver focus enough to learn.