I'm very proud of my gold pocket watch. My grandfather, on his deathbed, sold me this watch.

My wife and I thought we were in love, but it turned out to be benign

I'm astounded by people who want to 'know' the universe when it's hard enough to find your way around Chinatown.

What advice would I give the average homeowner to protect himself against burglars? Well, the first thing is to keep a light on in the house when you go out. It must be at least a sixty-watt bulb; anything less and the burglar will ransack the house, out of contempt for the wattage.

Let's say there was a burning building and you could rush in and you could save only one thing: either the last known copy of Shakespeare's plays or some anonymous human being. What would you do?

Nothing worth knowing can be understood with the mind.

In the shower, with the hot water coming down, you've left the real world behind, and very frequently things open up for you. It's the change of venue, the unblocking the attempt to force the ideas that's crippling you when you're trying to write.