"There is only one real sin and that is to persuade oneself that the second best is anything but second best."

"I wanted to highlight that whole dreadful process in book publishing that 'nothing succeeds like success.'"

"I think a lot of romanticizing has gone on with the women's movement."

"What really fascinates me is this need that is so strong now that if you read a work of the imagination you instantly have to say, 'Oh, what this really is is so-and-so,' reducing it to a simple formula."

"The bringing-about of order is the first and fundamental task of government. We accept limits on our rights for the sake of a larger social compact all the time."

"Art is for anyone. It just isn't for everyone. Still, over the past decade, its audience has hugely grown, and that's irked those outside the art world, who get irritated at things like incomprehensibility or money."

"The time to enjoy a European trip is about three weeks after unpacking."

"You never want to have that ticking clock and know that you had all this time and didn't use it."