"My old coach used to say that if you were in it for the match, if you were in it for the trophies, you were in it for the wrong reasons."

"I think that writers are, at best, outsiders to the society they inhabit. They have a kind of detachment, or try to have."

"Titles are important; I have them before I have books that belong to them. I have last chapters in my mind before I see first chapters, too. I usually begin with endings, with a sense of aftermath, of dust settling, of epilogue."

"I'm not writing non-fiction. I don't feel anything about me as a kid was unique. Except that I had more interest in being alone and using my imagination."

"In the heat of our campaigns, we have all become accustomed to a little anger and exaggeration. Yet, on the whole, our political process has served us well."

"I don't hate women - they just sometimes make me mad."

"I hate politics and what are considered their appropriate measures. I hate notoriety, public meetings, public speeches, caucuses and everything that I know of which is apparently the necessary incident of politics - except doing public work to the best of my ability."

"Don't get the impression that you arouse my anger. You see, one can only be angry with those he respects."