“It is not wealth one asks for, but just enough to preserve one’s dignity, to work unhampered, to be generous, frank and independent.”

They have no manners and are woefully unable to deal with any social predicament. Their idea of a celebration is to go to a public house and drink six beers. They are mean, malicious and envious . They are scum.

Sometimes a man hits upon a place to which he mysteriously feels that he belongs.

To bear failure with courage is the best proof of character that anyone can give.

The mystic sees the ineffable, and the psychopathologist the unspeakable.

You know, there are two good things in life, freedom of thought and freedom of action.

The well dressed man is he whose clothes you never notice

Imagination grows by exercise, and contrary to common belief, is more powerful in the mature than in the young.

Nothing in the world is permanent, and we’re foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we’re still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it.

Sometimes people carry to such perfection the mask they have assumed that in due course they actually become the person they seem.

It wasn’t until late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say, ‘I don’t know.’

You can do anything in this world if you are prepared to take the consequences.

Of all these the richest in beauty is the beautiful life. That is the perfect work of art.

When a woman loves you she’s not satisfied until she possesses your soul. Because she’s weak, she has a rage for domination, and nothing less will satisfy her.

The prestige you acquire by being able to tell your friends that you know famous men proves only that you are yourself of small account.

I recognize that I am made up of several persons and that the person that at the moment has the upper hand will inevitably give place to another. But which is the real one? All of them or none?

Failure make people bitter and cruel. Success improves the character of the man.

Is it fair your life burns so short and bright? Death had asked. “No such thing as fair,” Frank told himself. “If I’m going to burn, it might as well be bright.

Nice creepy reptile,” Frank said, very aware of the driftwood in his coat pocket. “Nice poisonous, fire-breathing reptile.

Quite frankly, having an uninformed populace works extremely well, particularly when you have a media that doesn’t understand its responsibility and feels more like it’s an arm of a political party. They can really take advantage of an uninformed populace.

The New York that Frank Sinatra sang about, people will never know that place. The New Orleans that Louis Armstrong sang about is the New Orleans that’s still there – it’s preserved.

Frank and explicit – that is the right line to take when you wish to conceal your own mind and confuse the minds of others.

Life is too short to be little. Man is never so manly as when he feels deeply, acts boldly, and expresses himself with frankness and with fervor.

I like, for instance, ‘Serpico.’ I enjoyed playing Serpico because Frank Serpico was there. He existed. He was a real life person and I could – I could embody him. I could, you know.

After my varied and celebrated career in television, movies, publishing, and the lucrative world of corporate speaking, being a fellow at Harvard seemed, frankly, like a step down.