We should be more anxious that our afflictions should benefit us than that they should be speedily removed from us.

A friend should be one in whose understanding and virtue we can equally confide, and whose opinion we can value at once for its justness and its sincerity.

In matters of conscience, first thoughts are best. In matters of prudence, last thoughts are best.

Mankind are apt to be strongly prejudiced in favor of whatever is countenanced by antiquity, enforced by authority, and recommended by custom.

Call things by their right names - Glass of brandy and water! That is the current, but not the appropriate name; ask for a glass of liquid fire and distilled damnation.

Of all the species of literary composition, perhaps biography is the most delightful. The attention concentrated on one individual gives a unity to the materials of which it is composed, which is wanting in general history.

In the power of fixing the attention lies the most precious of the intellectual habits.

We are to seek wisdom and understanding only in the length of days.

We should be more anxious that our afflictions should benefit us than that they should be speedily removed from us.

Rising health care spending occurs because it is beneficial, not a burden on the economy.

Call things by their right names Glass of brandy and water That is the current but not the appropriate name ask for a glass of liquid fire and distilled damnation.

I don't normally cook, but if I did it probably would be beans, sausage, bacon and eggs. I never really get to eat that to be honest.

It is futile for an artist to try to create an environment because you have an environment around you all the time. Any living organism has an environment.

A movie that I'm involved with and have a lot of love for, which is 'On The Road,' does use a lot of handheld. It can be done beautifully. I'm proud of that. It's a very beautiful movie.

The state of Israel must, from time to time, prove clearly that it is strong, and able and willing to use force, in a devastating and highly effective way. If it does not prove this, it will be swallowed up, and perhaps wiped off the face of the earth.

Grief walks upon the heels of pleasure; married in haste, we repent at leisure.

Life is short. Eat dessert first.

The Reserve Bank cannot just exist; its ability to say 'no' has to be protected.

I would love to have read about myself being compared to Lauren Bacall.

I still bite my nails.

In 'Seesaw,' I played Gittel Mosca, and because it was a musical, I loved it more because I was able to do anything. I was able to use all parts of me that I don't get to use... the comedy and the singing and the dancing.

Families are messy. Immortal families are eternally messy. Sometimes the best we can do is to remind each other that were related for better or for worse and try to keep the maiming and killing to a minimum.

The show that defined 'M*A*S*H' was the original interview episode with Clete Roberts. That was a way to look into these peoples' lives and investigate their situation, their feelings being away from home on an intimate level.

When growing up, I saw segregation. I saw racial discrimination. I saw those signs that said white men, colored men. White women, colored women. White waiting. And I didn't like it.

The competition in today's world of racing is so tough.

Understand from top to bottom what the effort requires.

I have thought for a long time that one day, if I finally got to deserve it, I would love to write about the minds of invertebrates.

Any action done with awareness is meditation. Meditation means to be fully aware of our actions, thoughts, feelings and emotions. Another name of meditation is passive awareness.

How you are perceived is impacted more by passage of time than by any behavioural changes.

I'm a very self-conscious person; I think we all are, but I'm especially not very comfortable in my body. I always feel really weird and awkward on the street or on the stage. It has nothing to do with circumstances; it's just an ongoing psychological state, like white noise.

For that story, I took as my subject a young woman whom I got to know over the course of a couple of visits. I never saw her having any health problems - but I knew she wanted to be married.

You loan your friend money. You see them again, they don't say nothin' 'bout the money. 'Hi, how ya doin'? How's ya mama doing?' Man, how's my money doin'?

How it works for me is that a scene comes to mind, usually a scene between the hero and heroine, that depicts the emotional conflict. From that scene, the characters come alive for me. I don't do a lot of preplanning in any way when I write.

The resistance to the unpleasant situation is the root of suffering.

The Saudi government uses a lot of British equipment to suppress their own people. But we're happy for our politicians to go on advertising trips to Saudi, selling our weapons at the trade conventions.