"God, our genes, our environment, or some stupid programmer keying in code at an ancient terminal - there's no way free will can ever exist if we as individuals are the result of some external cause."

"But in the meantime I became accustomed to the writing life and it would be hard to change now - partly because of the salary cut if I went to my other love, teaching; and partly because I still have stories to tell, even though it isn't all that fun doing the work anymore."

"Ulysses, obviously. It was an elaborate prank, and our supposed intellectual elite continue to fall for it."

"You who speak languages, you are such liars."

"After many decades of Disney movies, we have been conditioned to expect princesses to fall in love quickly with their charming princes and 'live happily ever after.'"

"I don't think actors should ever expect to get a role, because the disappointment is too great. You've got to think of things as an opportunity. An audition's an opportunity to have an audience."

"But for me, it is when a student has died. I find the death of a young person the most difficult and painful of times. To explain it to other young people, to see a bright future snuffed out, is just awful. I am haunted by those deaths."

"I'm an enormous fan of people who have had a lot of faith in themselves, and been on a tremendous journey."