“If you spend your life sparing people’s feelings and feeding their vanity, you get so you can’t distinguish what should be respected in them.”

“I don't forgive him," I said.
"Hell, no, you don't. And why should you? So he can feel better? Get on with his life? And what's he done to help you get on with yours?”

“The trouble is if you don’t spend your life yourself, other people spend it for you.”

“It is unthinkable for most people. Nuclear war is so outside your everyday experience it’s hard to get your mind around it. And if you can’t get your mind around it, you can’t talk about it and have a meaningful debate.”

“You spend your life getting walked on, you learn to recognize the tread.”

“What’s the point of being a magician if you can’t wave your wand and make the people you care about feel better?”

“Men will treat you the way you let them. There is no such thing as 'deserving' respect; you get what you demand from people.”

“You’ve gotta keep control of your time, and you can’t unless you say no. You can’t let people set your agenda in life.”

“Life is short. People are not easy to know. They're not easy to know, so if you don't tell them how you feel, you're not going to get anywhere, I feel.”

“If you can’t distinguish people from lap-dogs, you shouldn’t undertake philanthropic work.”