“Wickedness was like food: once you got started it was hard to stop; the gut expanded to take in more and more.”

“History. The more of it you have the more you have to live it. After a little while there gets to be too much of it to memorize and maybe that's when empires start to decline.”

“What you haven't done by thirty you're not likely to do. What you have done you'll do lots more.”

“If you have the guts to be yourself, other people'll pay your price.”

“Looking foolish does the spirit good. The need not to look foolish is one of youth's many burdens; as we get older we are exempted from more and more.”

“Suspect each moment, for it is a thief, tiptoeing away with more than it brings.”

“I once did something right. I played first-rate basketball. I really did. And after you're first-rate at something, no matter what, it kind of takes the kick out of being second-rate.”