To speak today of a famous novelist is like speaking of a famous cabinetmaker or speedboat designer. Adjective is inappropriate to noun.
We’ve had parallel lives. And frankly, I prefer mine to his. I would not like to be George Bush.
History is nothing but gossip about the past, with the hope that it might be true.
At any given moment, public opinion is a chaos of superstition, misinformation, and prejudice.
Each writer is born with a repertory company in his head.
The Gores, I think, are a bit brighter than the Bushes, historically speaking.
I never miss a chance to have sex or appear on television.
Never have children, only grandchildren.
In writing and politicking, it’s best not to think about it, just do it.
Think of the earth as a living organism that is being attacked by billions of bacteria whose numbers double every forty years. Either the host dies, or the virus dies, or both die.
In America, the race goes to the loud, the solemn, the hustler. If you think you’re a great writer, you must say that you are.
Apparently, a democracy is a place where numerous elections are held at great cost without issues and with interchangeable candidates.
Writing fiction has become a priestly business in countries that have lost their faith.
There is something about a bureaucrat that does not like a poem.
You can’t be both a writer and a politician, at least not a good writer. A writer must always tell the truth as he sees it. And the politician must never give the game away.
Some writers take to drink, others take to audiences.
One is sorry one could not have taken both branches of the road. But we were not allotted multiple selves.
I come from the highest class of all. I am a third-generation celebrity.
We must declare ourselves, become known; allow the world to discover this subterranean life of ours which connects kings and farm boys, artists and clerks. Let them see that the important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
Every time a friend succeeds, I die a little.