"Now people look at 'The Scream' or Van Gogh's 'Irises' or a Picasso and see its new content: money. Auction houses inherently equate capital with value."

"My nominee for Best Picture of the year - maybe the best picture ever, because it's essentially made up of and is an ecstatic love letter to all other movies - is Christian Marclay's endlessly enticing must-see masterpiece 'The Clock.'"

"I have a soft spot for art that, in terms of subject matter and material, is in bad taste."

"Abstract Expressionism - the first American movement to have a worldwide influence - was remarkably short-lived: It heated up after World War II and was all but done for by 1960 (although visit any art school today and you'll find a would-be Willem de Kooning)."

"You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the other man's freedom."

"The hardest thing is spending twelve hours a day accommodating the rest of the world, then going home at night and criticizing it. I would be curious about what I'd write if I didn't have to worry about offending."

"The road to perseverance lies by doubt."

"It is a subtle truth that to live with purpose is to leave the world a little gentler than you found it."