God, I Had Great People In My

Childhood Is A Tricky Business. Usually, Something Goes Wrong.

The Fan Mail I Get From Kids Are Asking Me Questions Which They Do Not Ask Their Mothers And Fathers. Because If They Had, Why Write To Me, A Perfect Stranger?

I Am Not A Religious Person, Nor Do I Have Any Regrets. The War Took Care Of That For Me. You Know, I Was Brought Up Strictly Kosher, But I - It Made No Sense To Me. It Made No Sense To Me What Was Happening. So Nothing Of It Means Anything To Me. Nothing. Except These Few Little Trivial Things That Are Related To Being Jewish. ... You Know Who My Gods Are, Who I Believe In Fervently? Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson - She's Probably The Top - Mozart, Shakespeare, Keats. These Are Wonderful Gods Who Have Gotten Me Through The Narrow Straits Of Life.

One Of The Beauties Of Being An Artist Is That You Can Create A Whole New World, With Circumstances That Are Better In Your Invented World Than They Are In The Real World.

I Thought That If I Were Going Into Old Age I Would Want To Do What [giuseppe] Verdi Did, Which Is To Write Extraordinary Things, And To Really Find Myself.