“I think the mirror should be tilted slightly upward when it's reflecting life--toward the cheerful, the tender, the compassionate, the brave, the funny, the encouraging, all those things.”

“When you can't wait for your ship to come in, you've got to row out to it.”

“It is a brave and stupid thing, a beautiful thing, to waste one's life for love.”

“I want everybody to be smart. As smart as they can be. A world of ignorant people is too dangerous to live in.”

“Function? Why function? Who needs more functioning human beings? It's really quite astounding, if you ask me, the sheer quantity of normal in the world today. I think that's the real horror of modern life.”

“The use of talent is far more important than the possession of talent.”

“Reading was my first solitary vice (and led to all others). I read while I ate, I read in the loo, I read in the bath. When I was supposed to be sleeping, I was reading.”