It is a defect of God's humor that he directs our hearts everywhere but to those who have a right to them.

It was a different planet in 1967, the Broadway theatre. It had a little ashtray clamped to the back of every seat and the author got 10% of the gross.

Death followed by eternity the worst of both worlds. It is a terrible thought.

For all the compasses in the world, there's only one direction, and time is its only measure.

You always end up with too much, so it's good to be part of the conversation about not just what you can omit, but how you are going to do the grammar of the omission, how you make things continue to work when there's something missing. It's your last chance to rewrite.

Fifty-five crystal spheres geared to God's crankshaft is my idea of a satisfying universe. I can't think of anything more trivial than quarks, quasars, big bangs and black holes.

I write scenes - often quite long scenes - mainly because I still get seduced into writing six lines where one and a half will do.