There are all sorts of dream interpretations, Freud's being the most notorious, but I have always believed they served a simple eliminatory function, and not much more - that dreams are the psyche's way of taking a good dump every now and then.

You learned to accept, or you ended up in a small room writing letters home with Crayolas.

Formula: Second Draft = First Draft minus 10%.

Most people are optimists, although they may claim they are not. People who call themselves realists are often the biggest optimists of all.

We've switched from a culture that was interested in manufacturing, economics, politics - trying to play a serious part in the world - to a culture that's really entertainment-based.

I'd been raised by my parents to believe barfing your feelings on other people was the height of impoliteness.

But now the joy is gone and the sadness is back, the sadness feels like something deserved, the price of some not-quite-forgotten betrayal.