My face too blind, my mind too limited, my instincts too narrow. But this intensity, doesn't it mean anything?

The body, she says, is subject to the force of gravity. But the soul is ruled by levity, pure.

I have begun in old age to understand...that we seldom if ever realize how generous we are to ourselves, and just how stingy with others.

I've discovered that rejections are not altogether a bad thing. They teach a writer to rely on his own judgment and to say in his heart of hearts, 'To hell with you.'

Take our politicians: they're a bunch of yo-yos. The presidency is now a cross between a popularity contest and a high school debate, with an encyclopedia of cliches.

Alternatives, and particularly desirable alternatives, grow only on imaginary trees.

Strict seriousness was far more dangerous than any joke.