I don't feel American. I do feel like a New Yorker. I think there's a real distinction there. A city allows you to become a citizen even when you're not a national.

If by some bizarre chance there turns out to be a god [...], I'm willing to bet he's an atheist too.

I think it's a very important function of art to challenge accepted reality, especially when that reality is created by powerful interest groups.

For a fellow who's not to much to look at, you have the instincts of a champion.

As I look back, I feel a touch of pride at my younger self's dedication to literature, which gave him the strength of mind to resist the blandishments of the enemies of promise. The sirens of ad-land sang sweetly and seductively, but I thought of Odysseus lashing himself to the mast of his ship, and somehow stayed on course.

Life is elsewhere. Cross frontiers. Fly away.

We are the only animals that tell stories to understand the world we live in.