“There has been much tragedy in my life; at least half of it actually happened.”

“I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.”

“My life has been filled with terrible misfortune; most of which never happened.”

“The greatest challenge of my life has been to see and accept the actual truth without great pain and struggle against it.”

“But suffering from a life-threatening disease also helped me have a different attitude and perspective. It has given a new intensity to life, for I realize how much I used to take for granted-the love and devotion of my wife, the laughter and playfulness of my grandchildren, the glory of a splendid sunset, the dedication of my colleagues. The disease has helped me acknowledge my own mortality, with deep thanksgiving for the extraordinary things that have happened in my life, not least in recent times. What a spectacular vindication it has been, in the struggle against apartheid, to live to see freedom come, to have been involved in finding the truth and reconciling the differences of those who are the future of our nation.”

“Comedy aims at representing men as worse, Tragedy as better than in actual life.”