“I've permitted myself to learn and to fail with some regularity. And that is probably the one thing I was given, and that I'm still grateful for.”

“I probably have more female friends than any man I've ever met. What I like about them is that almost always they're generally mentally tougher, and they're better listeners, and they're more capable of surviving things. And most of the women that I like have a haunted quality - they're sort of like women who live in a haunted house all by themselves.”

“I wouldn't describe myself as lacking in confidence, but I would just say that - the ghosts you chase you never catch.”

“If you don't interfere with me, I'll always do something really good.”

“Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.”

“I would be annoyed if I were any more in tune with modern sensibilities. I was shaped differently. The world in which I grew up was Texan and Southern, and it had many, many failings. I think I've gotten rid of most of the bad things in myself from that earlier age, but I don't adjust to the way things are progressing now.”

“I count myself as one of the number of those who learn as they write and write as they learn.”