"America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between." --Oscar Wilde

"I wish people who have trouble communicating would just shut up." --Tom Lehrer

"Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half." --Gore Vidal

"The trouble with our times is that the future is not what it used to be." --Paul Valery

"Books have the same enemies as people: fire, humidity, animals, weather, and their own content." --Paul Valery

"I love you the more that I believe you have liked me for my own sake and for nothing else." --John Keats

"We cannot teach people anything; we can only help them discover it within themselves." --Galileo

"Every action of our lives touches on some chord that will vibrate in eternity." --Sean O'Casey

"Fiction gives us a second chance that life denies us." --Paul Theroux

"Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself." --Charlie Chaplin

"I suppose that writers should, in a way, feel flattered by the censorship laws. They show a primitive fear and dread at the fearful magic of print." --John Mortimer

"There is no great genius without some touch of madness." --Seneca