“All men should strive to learn before they die, what they are running from, and to, and why.”

Humor is a serious thing. I like to think of it as one of our greatest earliest natural resources, which must be preserved at all cost.

Discussion in America means dissent.

Unless artists can remember what it was to be a little boy, they are only half complete as artist and as man.

Things have dropped from me. I have outlived certain desires; I have lost friends, some by death… others through sheer inability to cross the street.

Don’t count your boobies until they are hatched.

The unicorn is a mythical beast.

A false or misunderstood word may create as much disaster as a sudden thoughtless act.

The difference between our decadence and the Russians is that while theirs is brutal, ours is apathetic.

Americans want to go to heaven without dying.

The past is an old armchair in the attic, the present an ominous ticking sound, and the future is anybody’s guess.

If you wonder which is the stronger sex, watch which one twists the other around her little finger.

I myself have known some profoundly thoughtful dogs.

When all things are equal, translucence in writing is more effective than transparency, just as glow is more revealing than glare.

The act of writing is either something the writer dreads or actually likes, and I actually like it. Even re-writing’s fun. You’re getting somewhere, whether it seems to move or not.

You can fool too many of the people too much of the time.

Nowadays men lead lives of noisy desperation.

People striving, being knocked down and coming back… this is what builds character in a man.

The common bees will never use their sting upon the queen; if she is to be disposed of, they starve her to death, and the queen herself will sting nothing but royalty, nothing but a rival queen.

If you value a man’s regard, strive with him. As to liking, you like your newspaper – and despise it.

His good example has such an influence that the good men strive to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life so contrary to his example.

When men are ruled by fear, they strive to prevent the very changes that will abate it.

You can strive to be perfect. Or you can strive to be art.

The pursuit of excellence is commendable and worthwhile. Therefore strive for excellence not perfection.

Not everything is going to be successful. To strive for that is really naive. You just do the best you can do.