As somebody once said, we're not punished for our sins, we're punished by them.

Arnold Bennett was a writer I admired. He was actually taking notes at his father's deathbed.

As somebody once said, we're not punished for our sins, we're punished by them.

Gossip is more popular than literature.

I think with every writer there are two people there.

It's a natural thing for people to say, you know, Who's in this book? I find myself get ting a little defensive. People come along and I'm waiting for that first question.

I don't think anyone is the perfect one to play me.

I've always believed in survival.

We were married for almost 45 years. We fought all the time, it wasn't a great love or anything, it wasn't a great, all-consuming passion. She was just there. A lot of people were startled because we didn't seem devoted but we were.

I'm a writer, and what I do is write. I wasn't able to do anything else.

My life is every moment of my life. It is not a culmination of the past.

I went through life like an idiot for a great deal of the time, saying there's nothing I would change. That was a very arrogant thing to say. There's a lot I would change. There are people I would have steered clear of.

My mother was passionate. She was stubborn, the dominant one in the family. She dominated my father.

I came down to the living room one day and my wife was standing in the living room. It wasn't an illusion. I saw her out of the corner of my eye. The moment I saw her, she vanished.

The problem with Ireland is that it's a country full of genius, but with absolutely no talent.

A thing well done is worth doing.

I feel like the writer observing the grief, but it is difficult to be detached from it.

I'm a much nicer person since my wife died. I found out what pain is, so on that level I'm much nicer.

We are all the foolishness and all the crimes we did. We're also all the kindnesses we did. I hate to think of life as if we understood time. We don't understand time.

My father I liked, but it was only after his death that I got to know him by writing the play.

I've always enjoyed a woman's company more than men's. They're usually better looking.

The worst thing you can do to a Juggalo is not know about their weird subculture.

Charles and I are from Augusta, Ga. - so we come from James Brown territory, soul music and Motown. And Charles has always had a lot of Southern rock in there as well.

Since I don't look like every other girl, it takes a while to be okay with that. To be different. But different is good.

Contentment does not come from achievement. It comes from a relationship with the Lord.

A slice of hot, buttered toast is the perfect meal. It's not too much and not too little, and it gives you just the right buzz.

Japan's alliance with the U.S. will only grow in importance amid the increasingly difficult security situation surrounding our country, thus I think it is necessary to keep the marines in Okinawa, a geographically strategic location from the standpoint of maintaining deterrence.

It's important that we attempt to extend life beyond Earth now. It is the first time in the four billion-year history of Earth that it's been possible, and that window could be open for a long time - hopefully it is - or it could be open for a short time. We should err on the side of caution and do something now.

You can sightread better if you know your scales and arpeggios.

Every tear of sorrow sown by the righteous springs up a pearl.

I didn't want to be known as the reality-show star trying to be an actress, so I kept a lot of the failed auditions to myself.

Hesitation only enlarges magnifies the fear. Take action promptly. Be decisive.

I've tried very hard and I've never found any resemblance between the people I know and the people in my novels.

So it's conceivable I'll do something insane, or more insane than Dawn of the Dead. If that's possible.

It's a very frightening feeling to feel like you can have a busted taillight or wear a hoodie or be playing in a park, and someone can take your life away. To have two children, two black boys, you ask yourself a lot of questions about how do I protect my family. Is there anything I can actually do?

Money is not God, and human dignity is very important.

During my time I had some very difficult years, and I had very pronounced competition, all by men.

So much of the downstream revenue is linked to that initial excitement, to how much revenue is produced in the domestic box office. For example, what we pay for a film three years later is highly correlated to how well it did in the box office.

My attempt at really doing classic sort of songwriting is Shins stuff.

When ego is lost, limit is lost. You become infinite, kind, beautiful.

As for lawyers, it's more fun to play one than to be one.

There's a real separation between actors and all the other functions of Hollywood. If you're an actor you're somehow not a member of the crew. You're somehow more special. I hate that.

I work toward the liberation of women, but I'm not feminist. I'm just a woman.

My least favorite phrase in the English language is 'I don't care.'

We will fly that hawk when his pinions are grown.